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Encircling the Globe 


BY 

W. W. WHEELER 


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5 > 3 






Copyright 1910 
By W. W. Wheeler 

























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C CIA 2 78469 



























A Trip Around The World 

Calling at - — 

HONOLULU 

JAPAN 

CHINA 

PHILIPPINES 

BORNEO 

JAVA 

SINGAPORE 

BURMA 

INDIA 

EGYPT 

EUROPE 


TO MY WIFE 


WHO WAS MY CONSTANT COMPANION 
AND ENJOYED THIS TRIP WITH ME, 
THIS LITTLE BOOK 

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY 


THE AUTHOR 


Preface 


Many of my friends who have read my booklets, “Three Months in 
Foreign Lands,” and a “Glimpse of the Pacific Isles,” have urged me to 
print my notes and photographs taken on my trip around the world, 
and for the benefit and pleasure of those friends who do not have time 
and opportunity to make this trip 1 am publishing these notes. 

As 1 found a great demand for my former books, I am encouraged 
to publish this, which I trust may add to your pleasure. 

The following pages contain a very brief account of some of our 
travels. Many times a picture gives a better idea of the subject than 
words. Therefore, I have illustrated with half tone engravings, made 
from snap shot photographs, and a few from pictures selected in the 
various countries visited. 

I beg you to overlook the lack of literary style and many other 
defects, as I am not a professional writer, and come with me, we will 
make the cruise together without expense of time or money. 

Before making this trip I had read of these countries and peoples 
on the other side of our globe, but really had not much idea of what 
they actually were, and how they lived. In fact, but few of our people 
who have been born and reared in our own fair land, where every man 
who has health, and energy, may earn for himself and family food and 
clothing and even some of the luxuries of life, can imagine the condi- 
tion of millions of humanity who do not have enough to eat. 

After reading this booklet, if you like it. write me, and tell me so. 
If otherwise do not mention it. 

Yours sincerely, 

W. W. WHEELER. 


























































































































































































































































ENCIRCLING THE GLOBE 


We sailed from San Francisco Saturday afternoon, Feb- 
ruary 5, 1910, on the steamship Cleveland, bound for an 
All- Around-the- World Cruise. 

The weather was fair and the sea calm, as we sailed out 
of the Golden Gate, pointing* the bow of our good ship toward 
the setting sun, Westward, ever Westward we sailed. 

The crew of the vessel numbered four hundred and sixty 
(460), and the passengers, seven hundred and fifty (750), 
making a total of twelve hundred and ten (1210) people 
aboard, as much as the population of a good sized county seat 
town. 

After reading our many good-bye letters and telegrams 
from friends, we were ready for our first dinner on the 
steamer which was attended by nearly every passenger, all 
feeling happy to have so fine a send off. Sunday morning 
when we awakened, the weather was pleasant and clear, but 
a heavy swell was on, which caused much motion to our big 
ship. 

My wife is never sea-sick and I very seldom, so that 
it caused us no inconvenience, still about half of our passen- 
gers were in their berths sea-sick, and many others should 
have been there, if one could judge by the woe-be-gone ex- 
pression on their faces. A man who sat opposite me at the 
table said, he “was only forcing himself to eat a little, but 
that he was not sea-sick ; he was not fond of sailing, and did 
not think he would ever go on another voyage." An old ladv 
said, “this is my first voyage, and if the good Lord will land 



HARBOR, HONOLULU. DIAMOND HEAD IN DISTANCE. 


me safely at home, I will never travel again ; I am not sea- 
sick but I do not enjoy sailing." Such expressions were com- 
mon, but after two days we left the sea swells behind and 
gradually all recovered and were hopeful, some of them even 
joyful over the “beautiful voyage we are having." Then 
they said “I never was sea-sick, only felt a little uncomfort- 
able when the ship was pitching. I am a good sailor and 
love the sea." 

After one week of fine sailing, we arrived at Honolulu, 
“The Gem of the Pacific," as many call it. Rain had been 
falling for some time before we arrived, but the clouds cleared 
up promptly for us, and we spent two of the most delightful 
days on this beautiful island. 

j 

\ 

Lying in the Tropics, eighteen degrees north of the 
Equator, it has a profusion of trees, fruits, and flowers, which 
grow in the warm climates. They gave us green corn on the 
cob (and it was extra good) ; they have it all the year around. 
Sugar cane can be planted at any time of the year, and in that 
way be made to mature at any time of the year, making it 
very convenient for the planters, who can thus work all the 
year, cutting and grinding cane, making it very economical 
to handle the crop. Sugar is the only crop of any importance 
here, and it is probably the best sugar producing country of 
its acres in the world. For the past ten years the sugar plant- 
ers have harvested eleven tons of sugar cane per acre annually. 
It sounds so large that I almost hesitate to write it, as many 
may doubt its truth. Great fortunes have been made here in 
sugar growing. 

The cane is usually planted new, once in five years, but 
there is one variety which is planted only once in twelve years. 
It requires eighteen months to mature after planting, and 
after that it is cut once every twelve months. The ground 
where sugar cane is grown is all irrigated, and the part which 


3 



PICKING COCOANTTTS— HONOLULU. 









we saw on Oahu Island is watered by pumping. Part of the 
year the rains are abundant, and part of the year the crop 
must be irrigated. 

These lands have, some of them, been growing cane for 
many years, such are now treated to fertilizers each year, 
which costs $40.00 per acre — all this with the pumping of 
water for irrigation is very expensive, but the extraordinary 
crops justify the expense, and still leave a great profit for the 
planter. 

There is going to be trouble after a while to get labor 
enough to raise this sugar. At present the labor is all done 
by Japanese and Chinese Coolies, and Portugese, but our laws 
now prohibit the importation of Japanese and Chinese Coolies, 
and this class of labor will gradually become scarce, as those 
now in Hawaii go home or die off. 

At present Hawaii produces one-third of the sugar con- 
sumed in the United States. It is the basis of all revenue in 
Hawaii. 

On our arrival at Honolulu we immediately engaged an 
automobile and started on a general exploration expedition, 
leaving our bags at the Moana hotel, where we engaged 
rooms. We drove along the beach road to Diamond Head, 
which is the highest mountain lying close to the shore. It is 
about five hundred feet high, looking somewhat like the Rock 
of Gibralter. There is a fine paved road, one hundred feet 
wide, running out to this point, five miles from the city. 

From there we drove all the way around the mountain. 
On the land side of Diamond Head our government is now 
building a large fort, to be supplied with heavy long range 
guns, which will be able to sweep the whole bay. The gov- 
ernment is also establishing a regular Military Post here, with 
fine houses for officers and barracks for the soldiers. This is 



PINEAPPLE PLANTATION — H AWATTAN ISLANDS. 



in addition to the other Military Post already established on 
the other side of the city. 

Continuing our drive, we went out to Pali, about seven 
miles from the sea through one of the most beautiful valleys. 
This valley is about a mile wide, adjacent to the city, and 
gradually narrows as we climb, so that at the upper end it is 
only about six hundred feet wide, between two mountain 
peaks, and ends abruptly in a precipice 1500 feet high, and 
almost perpendicular. 

From this elevation the view is magnificent. The val- 
leys with sugar plantations, and all kinds of tropical vegeta- 
tion. There is a copper tablet set into the side of the moun- 
tain wall at this point, reciting the fact that this is the 
scene of the last battle of conquest waged by the famous 
“Kame-ha-meha the Great” in 1795. During this bloody bat- 
tle, when the Oahu army had been defeated, and disorganized, 
it became a fleeing mob, and was forced bodily (numbering 
over three thousand men) over this precipice to an awful 
death on the rocks fifteen hundred feet below. 

Our hotel, the Moana, is situated on the Waukiki Beach, 
where the surf runs in long breakers for half a mile on the 
sandy beach. It is the Coney Island of Honolulu. 

As we were there Saturday afternoon, it Avas a great 
sight to see many people out surf bathing, and swimming, 
also there were contests in surf riding , which were very in- 
teresting. The surf rider swims out to the breakers on a 
board eight feet long and one and one-half feet wide; placing 
his board in front of an incoming breaker, he is carried 
towards the shore on the crest of the wave as fast as a horse 
can run. The natives are very expert in this sport, and when 
they get their board running on the top of the breakers, they 
stand erect on it, and we saw one stand on his head. Also, 
they ride these breakers with their narrow canoes with out- 


7 



FOLIAGE SCENE ON DAMON PLANTATION— HONOLULU. 


rigger to keep them from rolling over. In these narrow boats 
two men, and sometimes four will ride the surf. 

They also had races with three crews of six men each 
in these out-rigger canoes, each man working a paddle about 
as big as a snow shovel. These boats being only about two 
feet wide were made to fairly shoot through the water. An 
out-rigger canoe has a board fastened across it near the bow, 
and another near the stern, about ten or twelve feet long, and 
have a wooden buoy at each end, which effectually prevents 
their turning over. We were anxious to get a snap shot 
photo of these surf-riders and boats but the breakers were so 
far from the shore that we did not have an opportunity. 

The water on this beach is 78 degrees the whole year 
round. The beach slopes so gradually that it is half a mile 
out before the water is over a man’s head. A great many of 
our passengers went swimming. 

The next morning was as delightful as any we have in 
June — the mountains on one side, and the sea on the other, 
with the air as balmy and smooth as the “inside of a pussy 
cat’s ear.” 

Taking an automobile again we were off for more sight 
seeing. This time we drove to the east of the city, passing 
Oahu College and grounds. This is a very large institution, 
having one building for boys and another for girls, with 
spacious grounds occupied by academic school buildings and 
dormitories. The grounds cover many acres, laid out by a 
landscape gardener. The school was a donation by a wealthy 
sugar planter’s widow. All pupils who are educated here 
must be native Hawaiians, or have some native Hawaiian 
blood. There is room for one thousand pupils in these school 
buildings, and they are well patronized. 

After this we drove out to the property owned by Mr. 


0 



PLOWING FOR RICE— HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 




Damon, which lies adjoining Honolulu, and extends several 
miles over the hills and valleys. 

Mr. Damon loaned $45,000 to Queen Lil many years ago, 
to repay this she gave him this beautiful tract of land ; being a 
public spirited citizen and wealthy, he spends much money 
every year in beautifying the extensive grounds, keeping 
fifty landscape gardeners and assistants continually making 
improvements. Mr. Damon has built a Golf Club house here, 
and laid out a splendid golf course, also Polo grounds, and a 
saddle horse road, all of which is free to the public. 

Through these extensive grounds runs a charming little 
brook with many beautiful water falls, and a finely graded 
macadamized road winding around the valley and over the 
hills, curving and turning this way and that. At one place 
we saw a beautiful lake half a mile long, and at the highest 
point we have a delightful view of the Pearl Valley, in which 
are located Mr. Damon’s sugar plantation and sugar refinery, 
also Pearl Harbor where our government is now building the 
largest dry dock in this part of the world. This is a great 
harbor, and will be devoted exclusively to the use of our navy. 
It lies eight or ten miles from Honolulu, and is entered by a 
very narrow channel, still there is room enough for all war 
ships, and it has deep water in nearly all parts. 

This island is traversed in every direction with the best 
graded and macadamized roads. It is the most delightful 
place for automobile driving, and there are over 500 regis- 
tered automobiles in a city of only forty thousand population, 
and more than half of them are public conveyances for hire. 

We only had two days in Honolulu, but the weather was 
perfect, and we made good use of each hour of our stay, and 
left with reluctance. We would have been glad to remain a 
week, and in our minds are promising ourselves that sometime 



mmOMOH— r ia,LOM VNYO n 



we will return and make a good long visit to this beautiful 
place, rightly called the “Gem of the Pacific." 

We arrived in Yokohama, Japan, after twelve days un- 
eventful sailing, and all were glad to be ashore again for a 
few days. 

This is the winter season in Japan, February being the 
coldest month, and while the temperature gets only a few 
degrees below freezing, it is a damp cold, and with a chilly 
wind is as uncomfortable as our coldest winter weather. 

This country does not look well in winter ; there is as 
much difference between winter and summer, as in our own 
fair land, still there is something of interest every moment in 
Japan — every way one turns the sights are new and strange. 

The Grand Hotel where we stopped is excellent, the cook- 
ing, European, in fact in every important city in Japan, we 
find good European or American hotels, and do not have 
to eat the Japanese cooking. For this we were very thank- 
ful, as it is not such food or cooking as appeals to the Amer- 
ican palate. A missionary was once asked in conference, 
whether he asked the blessing at the table before partaking of 
the Japanese food; “Yes, said he, I am thankful to get it, 
and more thankful if I can keep it down." 

The people here suffer much with cold, as most of them 
are in direst poverty, and have not sufficient clothing to pro- 
tect them from the cold. Many have no shoes and use simply 
a hemp or wooden sandal to protect the bottom of their feet. 

In their houses, which have frail thin walls with paper 
windows, they have no fire, only a brazier of charcoal, which 
keeps a very little fire for a long time, and they hover over 
it, trying to get a little warmth. Every Jap seemed to have a 
bad cold, and consumption is more prevalent here than in our 
country, still the babies come faster than the people die, so 
that the population is rapidly increasing. 


♦ 


13 



LEMONADE STAND— YOKOHAMA. 


The more we are with the Japanese the better we like 
them, as they are always extremely polite, bowing almost to 
the ground in salutation, and in hotels often anticipate our 
wants. They are always cheerful, and do their work laughing 
and talking. We saw no quarreling or fighting, nor any in- 
dication of intemperance and were told that intemperance is 
not as common here as in America. 

They are alert and quick as traders and shop-keepers, 
and ask larger prices for their merchandise than they expect to 
receive. They use all the tricks that are known to any country 
to get a few sen from a customer. The only way to trade 
here is to be a judge of goods and materials, and use your own 
judgment in selecting, and in offering a price, otherwise one 
will often pay more for an article here than it would cost 
at home. A price named to a lady for silver spoons was nine 
yen; after long bargaining, she purchased them for two yen, 
and told her friend about her bargain. The friend went to 
buy some of the same spoons, and bought them for one and 
a half yen. I saw men's white silk shirts made of Japanese 
silk, offered at four yen each (or two dollars), while we im- 
port the Japanese silk, paying a heavy duty, and make the 
same shirt in our factory in St. Joseph, and sell them at one 
dollar and seventy-five cents, to two dollars. The Japs say 
their custom duties have advanced since the Russian war, and 
their prices on goods have advanced. 

Five years ago a Mohammedan Prophet at the Mosque of 
Omar in Jerusalem blessed me, and gave me a pass to Para- 
dise and only charged me a franc (20c) ; yesterday a Shinto 
priest performed the same service for me and charged a yen, 
his blessing was not worth a cent more than the Jerusalem 
blessing. This illustrates the rapid advance in prices here, 
more rapid than the advance in cotton goods in the American 
market. 


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SELLING FISH IN STREETS OF YOKOHAMA. 


Yokohama is the greatest shipping* port in Japan. Last 
year their exports and imports amounted to three hundred 
and fifty million yen. At present ordinary ships come along- 
side docks to receive and discharge their cargoes, but new 
docks are now being built which will allow the largest ships 
to load and unload directly from the wharf, which is very 
uncommon in this part of the world. Also, many new ware- 
houses are being built, some of them four stories high, makes 
them look quite European, and connected to the loading docks 
by railway tracks. All the streets and the wharves in that 
vicinity are being paved with granite or cement blocks, such 
improvements will greatly facilitate their large shipping busi- 
ness. 

The city is only eighteen miles from Tokio, the capital 
and largest city in Japan, with over two million population. 
It is the shipping and receiving port for Tokio, as well as for 
all the eastern part of the Empire. To handle all this great 
traffic as is done at present, requires a great number of men, 
nearly everything is transferred on small wagons pulled by 
men. We saw but few horses in Yokohama. The streets are 
level, and a man hauls about half as much as a horse would 
pull. The few horses they have here, are very inferior, poorly 
fed animals, in fact, man power is cheaper in this country than 
horse power. 

There are many hundreds of very small warehouses along 
the canal in Yokohama, which receive and ship by boats on 
the canal. This is a cheap way to handle the freight, as these 
canal boats run along side the ocean steamers, and lift their 
wares directly into the steamers. 

Much of the Japanese work is done directly opposite our 
way, for instance, if they wish to rip a log lengthwise, in- 
stead of sawing up and down, they run their saw through the 
log horizontally, or flat on the side, also their saws cut as they 


1 7 



COOPERAGE FACTORY— JAPAN 


pull them, while ours cut as we push. They turn to the left 
in passing; the lines in their books run up and down. When 
a Japanese woman lias a baby, she does not stop work, but 
simply swings the infant on her back and goes about her usual 
duties. We saw a woman today with a baby on her back, and 
a pole swung across her shoulder carrying a heavy load. They 
do almost all kinds of work with a baby on their back. We 
saw many of them along with the men passing coal baskets 
up the side of a steamer in loading coal. 

The largest and best stores in Japan are to be found in 
Yokohama. Good stocks of all classes of goods, such as are 
used by foreign trade, are carried in these stores, but when 
one goes into the shops which cater to Japanese trade, they 
will find them very small indeed. 

As we go trotting along these narrow streets in Rick- 
shaws, the smells are bad, there being few sewers, every lit- 
tle while one will notice an odor still more unpleasant than 
usual, glance around and a fish store will be discovered. They 
have excellent fish, and we ate fish every day at the hotels, 
but they were not so old as some that were kept for sale by the 
natives. It seems that they keep the fish until they are sold, 
without regard to smell. While the whole nation is certainly 
more cleanly than any other nation in the “Far East,” their 
sense of smell is not acute, or at least, if they do smell the 
odors on their streets, they disregard them. 

After a few days in Yokohama, we departed by express 
train on the Imperial Government Tokaido Railway for 
Kyoto, a distance of three hundred and ten miles — fare $5.20, 
or about 1% cents per mile, the best train in Japan. 

This is cheap railroad fare, as compared with our fares 
in United States, and their roads have greatly improved their 
running time since we were here three years ago. This jour- 
ney was made in ten hours, or an average of thirty-one miles 


19 



T K M P T iR — K YOTO, JAPAN. 


per hour. The second-class fare on this trip is $3.28, or one 
cent per mile, and the third-class some cheaper. Most of the 
Japanese travel on third-class tickets. Their passenger cars 
were filled to the limit. We were surprised at the great num- 
bers of Japanese traveling, but the third-class fares, are as 
cheap in proportion as their low rate of wages. 

There was a compartment reserved in our car for roy- 
alty, there being no royalty aboard, we were given this com- 
partment, which was quite comfortable. We were pleased 
with the accommodation, and gave the train boy fifty sen 
(equal to twenty-five cents) as a tip. He was evidently sur- 
prised at the large amount of the tip, and came back in half 
an hour and inquired “did you give this as a present to me?” 
We thought he must be a Christian. 

We took the day train especially to see the country along 
the line. The low-lands along this road will average about 
ten miles wide, with the mountains on one side and the sea 
on the other; every acre of this land is irrigated, and cut up 
into little plots about one hundred feet square, a little dam 
raised around each plot, two feet high, so that they can flood 
each without watering any other. 

There are a great number of rivers and canals running 
from the mountain to the sea, and they furnish more water 
than can be used. The immense amount of labor which was 
required to make all these canals and dams, and dyke the 
rivers, is almost beyond conception. Every river has dykes on 
each side, so that the water can be controlled at flood time. 
All this labor is done by man-power; they have no horses or 
oxen to pull plows. We saw only one animal in all this day's 
trip and that was a lone steer pulling a plow. The soil is 
turned over with spades and hoes by men and women. 

The principal crops are rice and barley. They often raise 
a crop of rice, which they plant about June 1st, and harvest 


21 



TEMPT, E SCENE— KYOTO, JAPAN. 


about October ist, and on the same ground plant barley as 
soon as the rice is harvested. The barley matures and is 
harvested in May, out of the way in time for the rice again, 
thus making two crops a year. It seems incredible that the 
soil would produce crops, even two crops a year for a thou- 
sand years. They have one great fertilizer, that is plenty of 
water for irrigation, the rice land which may bear only one 
crop a year is flooded and water stands on it for months at a 
time. Half the land between Yokohama and Kobe is now 
covered with water an inch or two deep, and it is three months 
yet before rice will be planted. In many places we saw large 
windmills set up to pump water for irrigation, a new kind of 
windmill to us. They are set just high enough to clear the 
ground; a light frame is made for the wings, and these are 
thatched with straw. The wind prevails regularly enough in 
this coast section to make these primitive mills of much bene- 
fit. 

There is a large cotton factory at Oyama where they 
work five hundred girls. These girls sign an agreement to 
work five years, and are fed and clothed by the cotton factory. 
They have fine large buildings for the mill and barracks for 
employees, where they sleep and eat. The factory buildings 
look neat and clean, and are built of brick. 

At Shinada there is a large paper mill. The power to 
run this mill is electricity, generated twenty miles distant in 
the mountains by water power. 

There is a great amount of water power to be utilized in 
these mountains, and near enough for general use in gener- 
ating electricity for all their cities. Some of it is now being- 
used, and it will not be very long until all the power in this 
section for mills, street cars, lights, etc., will be electricity. 
The telephone is already in general use in all the coast cities, 


23 



PAGODA AND TEMPLE— KYOTO, JAPAN. 


and extends for miles out in the country, almost as generally 
as used in America. 

We noticed many cemeteries, and were told that gener- 
ally bodies are cremated, the ashes buried in these cemeteries, 
and a small stone set up to mark the grave. 

The Nagoya Castle, five stories high, built in Pagoda 
style is plainly to be seen from the railway station. It is sur- 
mounted by a pair of dolphins covered with pure gold scales 
(called Kin-no-Shachihoko) , which glitter brightly in the 
sun. These dolphins are eight feet eight inches in length, and 
seven feet in circumference. One of them was exhibited in 
Austria in 1873 at the Exposition. The scales on these two 
gold fish were made from old Japanese coin, valued at three 
and a half million yen. This castle, three hundred years old, 
was built and used by one of the Shogans ; it is now empty, 
but considered an Imperial Palace, and a permit is required 
from the Imperial Household for a visit to it. 

We arrived in Kyoto March 2d. This is the third city 
in size in Japan, claiming a population of half a million. It 
is a level city, five miles long and three and a half miles wide. 
The river Kamogana flows through it, and is crossed by many 
stone bridges. 

This place was the capitol of Japan from A. D. 794 until 
the Revolution in 1868. The next year the Imperial Palace 
was removed to Tokyo, where the Mikado has since lived. 

Kyoto is a great city, but similar in many respects to all 
Japanese cities, built almost entirely of one story wooden 
buildings, which are never painted. The streets are usually 
about twenty feet wide, with many cross streets which are 
not more than eight feet wide. 

As it is the oldest city in Japan, it has more temples than 
any other. There are no less than 878 Buddhist Temples, and 
82 Shinto Temples — truly a city of “many strange Gods." 


25 



PAGODA— KYOTA. JAPAN. 



As we could stay but a few days, we only visited eight 
hundred of these temples, leaving the remainder for a later 
visit. There are many images or gods set up in them, and 
usually each god has his special line of business. For instance, 
one will be the god of Health, called the Doctor god, and 
this image receives much attention. The devotee, if he has 
the headache, rubs his hand over the head of this god, and 
then over his own head, or if his digestion is bad, rubs his 
hand over the god's stomach and then over his own, and so 
on, for all ailments of the different parts of the body. We 
noticed that the Doctor god was much worn on the head and 
stomach, indicating location of pains which troubled most of 
his worshipers. 

Another is a god of love. This god has a lattice frame 
work before him, which is covered with small white papers 
tied in bow-knots. If the lady does not get along well with 
her lover, she goes to this god, and ties a paper knot on the 
cage in front of him. If that does not have the desired ef- 
fect, she does the same thing again. If still no result, she 
jumps over the side of the temple wall, a fall of one hundred 
feet on one side, to the rocks below. As none had made this 
jump recently it seems that the bow-knots must have had the 
desired effect. 

Kyoto is an all Japanese city. The hotel clerk told me 
there were but thirty foreigners in the city. I think there 
must be more than that, but the number is small. Only a few 
of the Japanese speak enough English to make themselves un- 
derstood. 

They have missionaries here, and mission schools. We 
saw one small Episcopal church and one small Catholic church. 
The most important Christian undertaking is the Y. M. C. A. 
in Kyoto. They have a good organization, the manager is 
an American from Dayton, Ohio. At present he is in the 

2 / 


* 



WINTER SCENE— KYOTO JAPAN. 



United States, and bis Japanese assistant could speak but lit- 
tle English ; they have- just built a new brick building, three 
stories high, having all the usual rooms for lectures, gymna- 
sium, billiard rooms, night schools and offices. It was not 
quite finished and not yet occupied. 

It is said that one American gentleman donated $30,000 
and nearly all the funds to build it came from America. 

We visited the Imperial Palace, which was formerly oc- 
cupied by the Mikado. The palace grounds cover twenty- 
eight acres, surrounded by a stone wall about twelve feet high. 
Before we could enter the palace we were requested to put 
cloth shoes over our own, and to leave our camera and hats 
at the gate. The palace buildings are one story, wooden 
structures, with no point, and the floors are covered with 
straw matting. It is kept as clean as if it was occupied. 

There are many fine paintings on the walls by celebrated 
Japanese artists, but no other decoration or furniture. 

When the Mikado lived here, he had very little power. 
It was then considered that being a direct descendant of the 
gods, he was too sacred to come in contact with the public, 
and the Empire was really ruled by the Shogun. During the 
Revolution in 1868, the Shogun was displaced. The Mikado 
took personal charge and since then has personally directed 
the affairs of state. This palace was burnt and rebuilt about 
fifty years ago. 

We next visited the Nijo Palace, where the Shogun lived 
and ruled. These buildings were erected in 1603, over three 
hundred years ago. They also are one story wooden build- 
ings, with no paint on the outside, but the inside is quite pro- 
fusely decorated. Many of the ceilings are elaborately paint- 
ed, and the walls are painted with the finest pictures by cele- 
brated Japanese artists, mostly landscape scenes. The lattice 
work between the rooms is the finest wood carving, and dec- 


29 



NVcivr ‘vhvn— H aaci hhx OMiaaa^ 



orated with pictures of peacocks and other birds of beautiful 
plumage. 

These buildings have high ceilings; the rooms are empty, 
and floors covered with heavy straw matting. Everything is 
kept remarkably clean and free from dust. 

This palace is larger and better than the Imperial Pal- 
ace, and has an imposing gateway or entrance, although so 
old, and never painted, the timbers show no signs of decay. 

A small army of servants and officers are required to 
keep these palaces in order, and a special permit from the Im- 
perial Household at Tokyo is required to visit them. Appar- 
ently they are of no benefit to anyone. When I meet the 
Mikado, I am going to suggest that he make use of them for 
public high schools, so that they may be of some benefit to 
the Japanese people. 

One day we made a trip to the old city of Nara, twenty- 
six miles from Kyoto by rail, this is a small place of three 
thousand population, and one thousand deer. Next to Nikko, 
it is said to be the most picturesque spot in all Japan, and one 
of the oldest temple towns. The Mikado had his palace here 
from A. D. 710 to 794. The largest temple in Japan, the 
Lodaiji, founded in 728, is located here, and contains a col- 
lossal Buddha Idol fifty three feet high. The temple itself 
is 290 feet long, 170 feet wide and 156 feet high. 

They seem to have bad luck with their Buddha Idols, as 
this Temple was burned three hundred years ago, and Bud- 
dha’s head melted off (at least that is tradition, but it does 
not look reasonable to me). They put a new head on him, 
so that probably he is as good as new now, but we could only 
see one side of his face, as they are rebuilding the Temple, and 
have so much scaffolding around that we could not get a 
good view. 

The Shinto Temple, called Kasugajiusha, built A. D. 



MVdV I’ — NOJjlLOD DNINNIdS 



/68, is also here. It is approached by a road lined on either 
side with three thousand temple lanterns, each about ten feet 
high, some made of metal, others of stone. There are several 
hundred tame deer around the temple grounds. One is ex- 
pected to buy a few cakes and feed them. 

The streets around this temple are shaded by tall pine 
trees called Cryptomarias. The temple is built on the side 
of the mountain, with a very fine view of the surrounding 
country. 

There are about a dozen separate buildings on these 
grounds each being a part of the main Temple, and having 
some special part of the Temple business of its own. They 
have many special fete days here, and pilgrims throng the 
grounds on such days, and indeed all other days, as there was 
a concourse of native pilgrims ahead of us and behind us. 
They come by train loads, many of them carrying their food 
with them, and look too poverty stricken to pay their railroad 
fare. 

In one department of the Temple they have a large Jap- 
anese restaurant. We ventured in, not to eat, but to see what 
was being cooked. The food may have been satisfactory to 
the Japs, but it did not appeal to us. 

Among other attractions : There is a fine Pagoda at 

Nara. Also a new hotel, the finest in Japan, has just been 
built on a beautiful location. As we have visited all of the 
best of them we are competent to judge. It is built of the 
native hard wood, the same as is used in the temples, painted 
white on the outside, but no paint or varnish on the inside ; 
just rubbed down dry, only two stories, and has many rooms, 
all of which have a fine outlook. 

We took lunch here, it was excellent, and we left the 
place with regret. A few days could be spent delightfully at 



STREET SCENE— KOBE, JAPAN. 


Nara in summer. It is a summer resort of some importance. 
If you go there, don't fail to stop at the Nara Hotel. 

On the road to Nara, the hills are covered with Tea 
plants, as they do not need much water, they are planted on 
the hill sides which cannot be conveniently irrigated. The 
tea-plant is a hardy shrub, from one to three feet high, and 
ever-green. The tender spring leaves are picked for tea, 
and when first picked they do not taste at all like tea. This 
section has the reputation of producing the best quality of 
tea in Japan. 

Kobe, where we arrived by rail March 5th, is the second 
seaport city in Japan, with a population of 300,000; Yoko- 
hama only is ahead in shipping, and is gaining faster than the 
latter city in business. Kobe’s exports and imports last year 
were over 300,000,000 yen. 

If you were dropped into the European quarter of Kobe, 
you would think you were in an American city, as the streets 
are well paved, the buildings are of modern style of archi- 
tecture, two or three stories, and built of brick. There are 
three or four streets built up this way, occupied by foreigners. 
There is no other city in Japan which has so much the ap- 
pearance of an American city. There is also one street on the 
side of the mountain where the foreign schools are located, 
and where the missionaries have their residences, and which 
are built like our homes. 

There are several foreign churches, also church schools 
and hospitals; also a well organized Y. M. C. A. in Kobe. 
The association is about to erect a new building to cost over 
140,000 yen. Of this amount about 26,000 yen was raised 
by public subscription among the Japanese. Many of the larg- 
est subscribers are not Christians. This shows that the Japan- 
ese feeling is quite favorable to Christian institutions, and 
they have good reason to be favorable to Christianity as 

35 



STREET SCENE— KOBE, JAPAN 


nearly all public charitable institutions in the country have 
been built by foreign Christians. The money to build the 
Y. M. C. A. above mentioned was mostly contributed by 
Americans. 

We had dinner with Rev. H. W. Myers and family, a 
Presbyterian Missionary, and went with them to see the new 
Presbyterian Theological Seminary just completed. They 
have a good location on the side hill, a healthy place, with 
an excellent view of the harbor. The school has rooms for 
thirty students. The faculty anticipate doing much good in 
educating natives for Missionary work. 

This city has many Buddhist and Shinto Temples, also 
two Buddhist Idols or Diabutsu, the largest of which is 48 feet 
high, cast of bronze, set up in 1891, but is not nearly so im- 
posing in appearance as the Diabutsu at Kammakura, which 
was built six hundred years ago. 

The Japanese here are not so poorly clad, and so poverty 
stricken as in some other cities. There is much work to be 
had, and a better opportunity to earn food and clothing. 

Osaka, a city of over a million population, only eighteen 
miles distant, is the largest manufacturing city in Japan, and 
all their receiving and shipping is done at Kobe. We did not 
stop at Osaka, but it is rapidly growing, and the many fac- 
tory smoke-stacks which we saw as we passed through, make 
it look like our manufacturing city of Pittsburg, Pa. 

Kobe has a little reservoir on the hill for city water. 
From it the water flows over Nunobiki Falls, 82 feet high, 
and makes a beautiful little water-fall. 

The monument Jusan-so-sekitoba, or thirteen storied 
Pagoda, as it is called, located in Kobe, was erected to the 
memory of Taira-no-Kigomori, the head of the Great House 


37 



RUDDHIST IDOL, DIABUTSIT— KOBE, JAPAN 


of Taira in the 12th Century. He ruled the Imperial Palace 
which was then located near here. 

The Shinto Temple Ikuta- Jingo near the railroad station, 
was founded by the Empress Jingo, in the third century, dedi- 
cated to the Goddess Waka-hime-nu-mikoto, looks extremely 
worn, but is still occupied. 

Kobe is situated on a large bay, which is enclosed by 
mountains, but all large vessels are compelled to anchor half 
a mile or more out, and load or unload by lighters, which is 
much more expensive than loading at the dock, as at Yoko- 
hama, but Kobe is geographically situated in the central-south- 
ern part of Japan, where she has probably the best part of the 
Empire to draw from, and undoubtedly has the greatest pros- 
pects for future business. 

The climate is excellent, only a few degrees below freez- 
ing in winter. Oranges are raised all along the southern 
coast of Japan, but they are of the hardy variety, and some 
of them are tied up with straw to protect them in winter. The 
fruit is not to be compared with California, Florida, or Ital- 
ian oranges. 

We think Kobe the most desirable place of residence for 
an American in Japan. 

On March 8th, we sailed from Kobe for Nagasaki 
through the inland sea, and through the strait of Shimo- 
neski, arriving at Nagasaki March 10th. 

This is the greatest coaling station for vessels in this 
part of the world. We took on 5,000 tons of coal here, and 
to see it done is an interesting sight. We had over two thou- 
sand Japanese men and women around our vessel on barges 
loaded with coal. They built a light scaffold up the side of 
the ship and placed a Jap about every four feet along the 
scaffold, loading the coal into small baskets holding about 
half a bushel each. They passed these baskets up from one 


39 



- - 


rh 


STREET SCENE— HONG-KONC 


to the other, a regular endless chain, and dumped them into 
the hold in a stream. It took about twenty-four hours to 
put 5,000 tons of coal in the hold. Many of them were wo- 
men with babies tied on their backs. They all worked cheer- 
fully and diligently and seemed delighted to get the oppor- 
tunity to work, although they only receive about twenty cents 
per day. 

The City of Nagasaki and suburbs claim a population of 
150,000, but it does not look so large. The place is not so 
prosperous as it was some years ago. 

The largest hotel, The Nagasaki, is closed for want of 
business. We took lunch at the Belle-vue Hotel, and the clerk 
told us that before the Russian war, they had much trade from 
the Russians, as this was their first port off Vladivostok, but 
they get no Russian trade now, and business is much depressed. 

The city is pleasantly situated between the mountains on 
the best natural harbor in Japan, an arm of the sea two and 
one-half miles long, half a mile wide and fifty-two feet deep, 
surrounded by mountains 500 feet high. As all these hills 
are fortified, we were warned to take no photographs. 

We took a rickshaw ride five miles over the mountains to 
Mogi. The road is well graded and macadamized, and the 
scenery is fine, as we rise over the mountain and descend to 
the sea on the other side. 

Mogi is a small fishing town. There are about five hun- 
dred grown people, and twenty-five hundred children here, 
which really is the proportions all over Japan. 

The valleys on this road are very narrow, and the small 
patches of ground that can be tilled certainly do not produce 
enough to feed their people, and this is true of Nagasaki. 
The food for the people must be grown elsewhere. 

The second day we made a trip by rickshaw about three 
miles up a mountain to the Nagasaki water-works. There are 


4i 



ON THE PEARL RIVER— CANTON. 


two reservoirs on an elevation, the highest about 400 feet, 
and the lowest about 300 feet, both made very cheaply and 
simply, by throwing a dam across a narrow ravine, these re- 
servoirs are about two acres in extent, and fifty feet deep, 
rather small supply for so large a city ; no pumping, simply 
storing what water comes into them in the rainy season. 

The principal means of livelihood for the people of Naga- 
saki is laboring in the dry docks, where there is some ship 
building on a small scale, and much repairing of ship ma- 
chinery, and overhauling ships. About 5,000 men are em- 
ployed at this work. Also the coaling of vessels is an import- 
ant source of income. The coal is of a poor quality, being 
more than half slack, but makes good steam fuel. As coal 
is very scarce in this part of the world, the coal mines of 
western Japan supply most of the ship coal used in this far 
eastern trade. 

There is a very good Y. M. C. A. building here. We 
called and had a little chat with the Japanese young man who 
is in charge, he was partly educated in the United States and 
speaks English very well. Their building is a two story 
wooden structure, built in modern style, painted outside and 
plastered inside. Cost Fifteen Thousand Gold Dollars, which 
was largely contributed by people in the United States. There 
are offices, gymnasium, and billiard room on the first floor, 
lecture room and class rooms on the second floor. They have 
lectures twice a week, and night schools, principally to teach 
English. 

There are about three hundred members, mostly Chris- 
tian men, but not all, as it is not required that all shall be 
Christians to become members. The association is governed 
by ten trustees, two of which are American and eight Japan- 
ese. The Y. M. C. A. is making excellent progress in all 


43 



CHINESE JUNKS ON THE PEARL RIVER, NEAR CANTON. 


these Japanese cities, and they should be a great power for 
good. 

The people of Nagasaki insisted that we should stay one 
night longer than we had intended, that they might give us 
a complimentary Lantern Parade, and they did make a very 
interesting and pleasing show, as thousands of them formed in 
line and marched along the shore in front of our ship, salut- 
ing us with fireworks. The demonstration resembled a polit- 
ical rally in the United States. The Mayor and City Fathers 
met us on our arrival, in frock coats and high silk hats, and 
received us with a speech of welcome, giving us the freedom 
of the city, just like our enterprising American cities do. 

The towns all through Japan have been decorated with 
American and Japanese flags — whenever we were in port. 
Our party were given a perfect ovation. We never saw more 
American flags used in gala decoration than we saw here, 
also all the school children in the cities were furnished with 
United States flags, and welcomed our party continually on 
the streets, and in their school grounds, waving the flags and 
shouting kk Banzai, Banzai.” There is a proverb that children 
and fools tell the truth. This would indicate that the peo- 
ple of United States are greatly in favor with the Japanese, 
and I believe this to be a fact. They certainly have great rea- 
son to feel under obligations to our nation, for there is scarce- 
ly a place in Southern Japan that is not more or less obligated 
to individuals of our country, who have done so much to up- 
lift them, by building Y. M. C. A., church, school and hospital 
buildings, continually ministering to their advancement. I 
think more of this work has been done by the United States 
in Japan than by all other nations combined. 


CHINA. 

We had a delightful visit of four days in Hong-Kong, 



HEAD HUNTERS— LABUAN, BORNEO. 


and Canton. The weather was balmy and spring* like, and we 
were continually out sight seeing. 

The European quarter of Hong-Kong looks much like a 
European city, except that the buildings have an outside wall 
or collonade, all arched, and an inside wall about ten feet 
back of the first, the idea being to shelter the inside from the 
hot tropical sun. 

This is headquarters for the British Army and Navy in 
this part of the “Far East." A strong garrison is maintained. 
We saw four large British warships in the harbor, and one 
small American gunboat. 

“The Peak,” 1850 feet high, immediately back of the 
city, is reached by means of a cable railroad about two miles 
long and one mile in sedan chairs, then a climb on foot of 
five hundred feet. The view over the harbor is magnificent : 
the elevation makes it an ideal place for fortification. There 
are enough British guns here to keep peace in Hong-Kong. 
The officers’ homes and the army barracks are located high 
up on this mountain, a very desirable place for the hot weather. 

Hong-Kong harbor is one of the best in the world. One 
morning as we were going from Hong-Kong to the steamer 
Cleveland, early, before our steam tender was running, we 
took a Chinese Sampan, of which there are thousands in this 
harbor. This particular Sampan was manned by the whole 
family, except the able bodied men ; they were not there, prob- 
ably on shore carrying sedan chairs, pulling rickshaws or 
other heavy work on the streets. 

This boat was about thirty feet long. There was one 
good strong young women, and one blind man pulling at the 
oars in the bow; two half-grown girls handled the large sail, 
while the mother was steersman and commander. The balance 
of this family of nine were small children, and one aged grand- 
mother. A little charcoal fire in the stern was used for cook- 


47 



STREET SCENE — E ABU AN, BORNEO. 


ing\ The central part of the boat was clean and covered with 
new straw matting*. There were no seats ; we were invited to 
sit on the floor, which is the usual place for the Chinese, and 
the best place to sit if the sea is rough, and there is a bit of 
a breeze, like we had, to turn the little craft well over on her 
heels, and made us feel that may be we were going* clear over, 
but these women are born sailors, having never had any home 
except the Sampan, and only smile when they see a look of 
fright on the faces of their passengers. They know there is 
no danger. 

As we were coming down the incline railroad, after visit- 
ing* “The Peak,” we stopped off at a station about half way 
called “Bowen Road"; taking sedan chairs we had a delight- 
ful ride of an hour along* the side of the mountain overlook- 
ing the city and harbor. This is a rock road about ten feet 
wide, built into the side of the mountain in some places, and 
crossing* the high ravines on strong* iron bridges. There is 
an “East Indian Policemen" every few hundred yards, to see 
that everything is always in good shape. 

This road passes the waterworks, reservoirs, and several 
settling* basins. There is a fine water works system here and 
the pressure is great; as the elevation of the reservoir is about 
1,000 feet, the water is clean and good, which is not always 
the case in China. 

After a time we zig-zag* down the mountain through the 
most beautiful residence portion of the city. All those who 
are able build a residence on the steep mountain side, making* 
a terrace wide enough for the residence and a grass plot for 
trees and flowers. They have a delightful view, and good 
cooling breeze for summer. 

Canton is thoroughly a Chinese city, founded 1400 B. C. 
and supposed to contain two million population. “No man 
can number them." It is said that this city was further ad- 


49 



STREET SCENE— LABUAN. BORNEO. 



vanced three thousand years ago in the Arts and Science, 
than it is today. 

It is one of the largest cities in the world, and by many 
it is claimed to have the loudest smells of any city on Earth. 
Built on the Pearl River , it has half a million population 
which live in boats. The greatest sight we have ever seen 
on water is the scene on Pearl River at Canton. The river 
is half a mile wide, and full of all sorts of water craft. The 
river passenger steamers, the Chinese freighter, which car- 
ries everything, the Chinese junk, the pleasure boat, the 
Sampan and row boat, all bent on business of their own, and 
pushing through the water in every direction. We were en- 
chanted with the moving panorama. 

On our arrival at Canton we were taken from the small 
river steamer in sedan chairs to the world famous Victoria 
hotel. We had for many years heard that this was the 
“worst hotel in the world,” and now we believe it has a justly 
earned reputation. 

It is the only foreign hotel in Canton, and one must stop 
there if they visit this great city. 

After breakfast we immediately set out on our tour of 
investigation to see the sights. As for streets, there are none, 
such alleys as they have are from four to ten feet wide. 

The houses, built of brick, are four stories high, in the 
most populous part, running down to one story in other parts, 
and streamers for trade signs fill the air above, so that we had 
the smells with very little opportunity for fresh air. The light 
is dim in broad daylight, and the people swarm everywhere. 
We have a depressed, shut in feeling, requiring an effort to 
breathe, but the Coolies who carry our chairs keep pushing 
through the crowd, and all of them yelling at the same time, 
continuously calling for everybody to get out of the way, for 
these high and mighty persons. Sometimes we met a string 



OUR ROOM. .TAYA HOTEL — BATAVIA 




of men carrying fish tubs, hanging from a pole across their 
shoulders, or meat, or vegetables, or fertilizer (which smells 
louder than other merchandise), bolts of cotton cloth, cans of 
kerosine, furniture, hardware, and every other conceivable 
kind of material ; then the other man must stand and hold his 
load until we pass, or lay it on the ground, as the alley is 
often too narrow for two loads to pass. 

The houses on either side have no street fronts or street 
walls, but are wide open ; every conceivable calling or busi- 
ness is going on. The cook has his pot boiling so close that 
we can see what he is cooking. The baker makes his little 
loaves, and cakes, and leaves them on boards within reach of 
the passer by, who may select what he wants, and have them 
baked fresh to order. The butcher has his fish, pig, dog and 
rat, hanging so close to the passing throng that often one will 
get the drip from these meats, if not careful to keep in the 
middle of the street. Also, the jeweler, the blacksmith, the 
carpenter, the shoemaker, the candy dealer, the second- 
hand clothes dealer, and every kind of trade, all so close that 
it is marvelous how we can pass at all. Bear in mind that all 
this time the men carrying our chairs keep up their continual 
yelling. Under such circumstances, so strange and unusual, 
all our senses are alert, we can see, hear, smell , touch and 
taste at the same time. 

W hile at first it is something of a jumble, gradually we 
get accustomed to the strange and very interesting surround- 
ings, and carefully watch the scenes, to be sure that we may 
not miss anything as we pass along. 

About this time the guide halts to take us to a shop where 
we may buy embroidery, idols, jewelry, hats, table cloths, 
center pieces, old curiosity boxes, ivory carvings, pajamas, 
Mandarin coats, and a thousand nick-nacks which will be 
priced “at the lowest possible price." “How much you give?" 



ON THE PAVILION, JAVA HOTEL— BATAVIA. 


Be careful and not offer one-third the asking price, or you 
will be the purchaser at more than the article is worth. The 
stop is only a diversion to allow us to buy, that the guide may 
get a commission on what we may purchase. 

Resuming our seats in the sedan chairs we proceed 
through many long and crooked alleys, until we come to the 
“Temple of Five Hundred Gods,” which are simply wooden 
images, bronzed until they look like brass. They are about 
two feet high, and ranged along the wall on a shelf. They 
are Buddhist gods, many having different names, and differ- 
ent missions to perform. 

Among them is the bust of the first white foreigner who 
visited China, Marco Polo. He was a great benefactor, so 
that his bust is set up with the Gods to be worshiped. 

The largest idol is an image of a former Emperor of 
China, the grandfather of the present Emperor (who is yet a 
child). This idol is twice life size, made of wood, lacquered 
and bronzed, and occupies the central position in the temple, 
as though he might be the father of all the other gods. 

Again we resume our chairs, and proceed to the out- 
skirts of the city, along a wide canal, but still inside the walls, 
along a very poor street of one story houses, where the smells 
still continue the same as usual, across the canal is a strip of 
ground two or three hundred feet wide, where all kinds of 
garden products are growing ; they look very green and luxur- 
iant, and we would think it a treat to have some of this lettuce, 
turnips, spinach, beets, or strawberries for luncheon, but we 
notice the kind of fertilizer or top dressing used to grow these 
garden vegetables, and decide we will not eat any vegetables 
in China. 

Next we stop at the “House of the Dead/' which is 
really a series of rooms, arranged like a one story hotel, those 
who have the means, deposit their dead here to remain for a 


55 



BOYS IN THE STREET IN BATAVIA, JAVA. 




4 


time. Many of these caskets occupy a room in this place for 
a long time. One we saw contained the body of a Prince ; 
this casket had been here for sixty years. A rental is charged 
for the rooms, and none but the millionaires use them. Our 
guide says, ‘‘a millionaire here is a wealthy man, maybe worth 
as much as twenty thousand dollars.” 

Resuming our chairs, we proceed to the five story Pa- 
goda, which overlooks the hills, used for burial grounds, also 
the old city wall. When this wall was built, history does not 
tell, but it is overgrown with moss, and is probably some thou- 
sand years old, and still intact, doing service as a city protec- 
tion. 

We now retrace our steps to the Victoria Hotel for lunch. 
The tropical sun is too hot for out-of-doors trips from twelve 
to three o’clock. Later we take our chairs to see other parts 
of this vast bee-hive of humanity. 

One place visited is called the “Hall of Ancestors,” and 
here in a large building, better than any temple we saw in 
Canton, is the family record of many generations. One whole 
side of the hall, about one hundred and fifty feet long, and 
forty to fifty feet high is filled, or nearly filled with little 
wooden tablets about six inches long, and two inches wide. 
This represents one individual and has his record painted on 
it. These tablets are ranged in rows and so placed that the 
living can trace his ancestry back many generations. It costs 
money to have your shingle inserted in this hall ; some pay as 
much as one thousand dollars (Mexican dollars) for the privi- 
lege. As the place is nearly all occupied with shingles or tab- 
lets now, they will find it necessary to soon build another 
wall to increase the space or stop the record. 

About five weeks ago a riot occurred among the soldiers 
here, and two hundred of them were killed. This caused 
much doubt as to whether it would be wise for us to visit Can- 


57 



STREET SCENE— BATAVIA, JAVA. 


ton at this time. The Canton officials seemed afraid that 
some trouble might arise while we were there, but there was 
no indication of hostility toward us. Indeed, the people seem 
to have no curiosity about us, and pay no more attention than 
if a string* of their own countrymen were passing* along their 
narrow alleys. In the United States if a few Chinamen were 
passing along our streets we would all run to the doors to see 
the foreigners, but these people continue their work without 
looking* up while we are passing. We never saw a class of 
people who attend to their own business, without taking no- 
tice of others like the Chinese. 

Of course, we had as guide, a native who spoke English, 
to take us to those places which were of most interest to 
strangers, and without being* asked the police authorities sent 
a soldier along* with us, but it was not at all necessary. 

Recently there has been a desire to tear the old Canton 
wall down, and use the space for a good road around the 
city, but since the riot, when it was thought best to close the 
city gate, to keep the mob out, it has been decided that the 
old city wall should be left where it has stood for thousands 
of vears. 

j 

Leaving Canton on our return, the country for miles on 
each side of the river is a well cultivated plain, a few feet 
above sea level, with occasionally a low hill for variety. The 
beautiful green of the growing crops and many Chinese Junks 
along* the river, with several nine story Pagodas quite near the 
shore, was an enchanting scene, long* to be remembered. We 
voted with one accord that it had been one of the most inter- 
esting* days of our lives. Seeing Canton life in the city, and 
the thousands on the river, one will see the primitive life of 
the Chinese. 

We hope that soon a Chinese ruler may arise, who will 
build a complete new Canton, with wide streets, regularly laid 


59 



NATIVE RESIDENCE— BATAVIA, JAVA. 


out, with water, gas, electric lights, sewers and telephones, 
and move the whole city to a new location, where the health 
of the people may be properly protected, and then wipe out 
Old Canton with a bonfire, as it is impossible to ever make a 
healthy city of Canton on its present site. 

We reached Manila on Sunday, March 20th and were re- 
ceived with the o-reatest enthusiasm. Numerous small 

o 

launches came out to meet us in the bay, with brass bands, 
and several hundred of the representative citizens to give us 
a welcome. The American in Manila is glad to have an op- 
portunity to entertain the home people when they visit the 
city. A great many automobiles and carriages were on the 
dock, and in a short space of time our passengers were wheeled 
away to the various attractions of the city. 

The United States Government has spent a large amount 
of money in and around Manila to make it a healthy city. 

The sewerage system of the city has been greatly im- 
proved at an expense of two million dollars. The harbor has 
been improved at an expense of one and a half million dol- 
lars, by building a sea wall or breakwater, dredging and 
building extensive docks, so that the largest vessels now come 
along side the docks to receive and discharge cargo. Also 
Fort McKinley, the largest army post occupied by the United 
States, has been built six or seven miles out from Manila, at 
a great expense. All this distribution of cash makes this a 
lively city. Many improvements have been made since we 
were here three years ago, so that this is now considered one 
of the healthiest cities in the Far East. Cholera, yellow 
fever and bubonic plague, which were frequently epidemic, 
have not troubled the city to any extent recently. 

Manila is carefully and systematically policed by Ameri- 
cans ; all disease breeding places are cleaned up and required 
to be kept clean as possible. A great improvement has been 


61 



ENTRANCE TO GREAT SHWE DAGON PAGODA— RANGOON. 





made in this respect. The army post here is considered heal- 
thy, eight and one-half deaths to the thousand is the last year- 
ly report, which makes it one of our healthy places for the 
army boys, even if it is in the Tropics. 

There are at present twelve thousand United States sol- 
diers in the Philippines, besides five thousand native soldiers. 
The latter have American officers, and are chiefly used as 
scouts in the interior. There is no warfare going on now, and 
has been none for a long time. We think that the force here 
could be reduced by taking home six thousand of our 
United States soldiers, leaving six thousand on duty, with the 
five thousand native soldiers would be ample to keep peace in 
these islands, as there is no war or uprising of any import- 
ance likely to disturb the peace of the Philippines. It costs at 
least twice as much to feed our soldiers here as in the United 
States, and $200,000,000 has already been spent here by Uncle 
Sam ; therefore it is time to begin economy in the Philippines. 

We visited Bilibid prison. It belongs to the Insular gov- 
ernment, and the prisoners are Filipinos, who have been sent 
here for all kinds of crimes, a great many of them being mur- 
derers. We were shown the greatest courtesy by Mr. Wolf, 
the superintendent, who has been in charge since we took the 
islands. Mr. Wolf certainly has great ability as Prison Super- 
intendent. 

This prison is located not far from the central part of 
the city, and covers over seventeen acres, divided into many 
houses, wards, and sections; a large sanitarium is maintained 
in the prison for tuberculosis patients. There are many of 
these prisoners affected by this disease; over one hundred who 
came to the prison in the first stages of tuberculosis have been 
permanently cured. 

There are at present three thousand prisoners within 
these walls, and over two thousand outside, employed by the 


63 



-■ ~ 1 

“ Ufa v * v M ~&i ' 


THE GREAT SHWE DAGON PAGODA— RANGOON, BURMA. 




Insular Government at building roads, and various other kinds 
of state work. The prisoners do many kinds of work, such as 
making willow chairs, blacksmith work, carpenter work, jew- 
elry work, and such class of labor as can be done inside prison 
walls. The institution is more than self supporting if they 
get credit for the work done by the prisoners on the outside. 
The whole place is kept neat and clean, and the health of the 
prisoners is good, as they are all taught some trade, they are 
in much better shape to do useful work in the community 
when their time is out. 

As the Filipinos are quite musical, the prison maintains 
a class in music, and makes good musicians of some of them. 

When the prisoners are discharged, employment is found 
for them, so that they have the opportunity to support them- 
selves in an honorable manner. Mr. Wolf says that at first 
they had much trouble to maintain order and discipline, and 
had two unsuccessful riots, which were joined by several hun- 
dred of the inmates in an effort to gain liberty by killing the 
guards, and scaling the walls. As these riots were put down 
with some loss of life and limb to the prisoners, the officials 
have had no trouble recently. The prisoners get a reduction 
of time for good behavior, and about ninety per cent of them 
are now on the good behavior roll, which is considered a very 
high percentage of honor prisoners in any country. 

We took a boat excursion up the Pasig River, a few 
miles, there are four large bridges across this river, and it is 
navigable for small boats about twenty miles; it cuts Manila 
into two nearly equal parts. 

The Standard Oil Company have a large plant on the 
river, also the native cigar factory. This factory is the only 
one owned by native Filipinos; they work a large force. The 
Governor's home is on the river bank. It has large gar- 
den, and is a beautiful place. There are several other hand- 


65 



BUDDHIST IDOLS, IN SHWE DAGON PAGODA 


some homes, and club houses located along the river banks. 

As we proceed up the stream we see many little native 
towns, one with a large church, which was much damaged 
during a battle between the United States troops and Filipino 
Insurgents, shortly after we took possession of the islands. 

I do not think the Filipino will ever become a good 
worker, although education may improve him, as he will want 
more things when he is raised to a higher standard of educa- 
tion. The effort to teach the Filipino children is meeting 
with good success. In Manila alone there are 25,000 pupils 
enrolled ; each pupil receives industrial instruction for three 
hours daily, the making of hats and embroidery is being 
taught in the schools. 

In the country, wherever it can be done safely, our gov- 
ernment has established schools. Many American women are 
engaged in this noble work. The natives are glad to have 
these teachers in most places. A lady teacher is entirely safe 
in many places in the country where a man teacher might have 
trouble. The children are learning the English language, and 
by another generation the problem of self-government may be- 
gin to be clearer than today. 

The Payne Tariff Bill recently passed, taking the tariff 
partially off the Philippine products, is a step in the right di- 
rection, and will encourage these people more than anything 
that has been done for them recently. We ought to remove 
the tariff from all their products, and give them a fair show ; 
as one step in that direction has been taken, quite likely all 
tariff may soon be taken off their products. 

In our going the rounds of Manila we visited the Old 
Paco cemetery, established over one hundred years ago. It 
covers three acres, and is fenced in by a thick high wall, 
which is built so that coffins may be placed as in a vault, and 
sealed up with a memorial slab at the head, built into the 


67 



ON THE TERRACE OF THE SHWE DAGON PAGODA— RANGOON. 





wall, making a tier of vaults all around. There is room in 
this wall for over 2000 bodies. The enclosure is laid out in 
walks, and planted with flowers and shade trees. A yearly 
rental is charged for these vaults and when the rent is not 
paid the tomb is opened, the bones taken out and thrown into 
a pile back of the cemetery, and the space rented to others. 

I was looking for these human bones which “could not 
pay the rent,” to photograph the pile, but the authorities have 
removed them, and they are not now allowed to accumulate. 

In our stroll we entered the San August ian Church and 
Convent, three hundred years old, the oldest in this country. 
It is built in the Spanish style, with massive walls, and a high 
altar with candles at the end. There is also quite an establish- 
ment on one side, being* an open court with rooms and porti- 
coes all around, and a palm garden. This church has stood 
the test of time and war very well. 

We also entered the Church of St. Ignatius, said to be 
the most beautiful interior of any church on the islands. The 
interior is all native wood carving, rubbed down dry without 
varnish. This gives it a golden brown appearance, and pro- 
duces a handsome effect. It has a very fine audience room, 
with a gallery all around, built quite close up to the roof. 

These churches are both Roman Catholic, as are all the 
old churches here. The Episcopal Church, built of stone cost 
$150,000. The Methodist Episcopal have a fine church build- 
ing, and the Presbyterian Church has a new stone building, 
until a Roof Garden . This is certainly the latest novelty in 
church building. 

There are several mission churches where the Gospel is 
preached in the native Filipino tongue. The Y. M. C. A. are 
now putting up a new building to cost $100,000 and are said 


69 



SHRINES, ON THE TERRACE OF THE SHWE DAGON PAGODA— RANGOON. 



to have a good strong* association, but we did not have time to 
call. 

The Philippine Legislature is about to convene. All the 
members have written that they will be here next week, ex- 
cept two, one of them is dangerously sick with fever, and the 
other has recently been sentenced to the penitentiary. As our 
government has done so much for these islands we should 
assist them further, and pass laws giving the Philippine gov- 
ernment the legal right to bring Chinamen into the islands on 
five year contracts, with transportation back to China. With 
such a law, the Philippines would at once make better pro- 
gress than ever before, as they could then get all the labor 
needed to greatly increase their production of sugar, tobacco 
and hemp. It would be the speedy and permanent up-build- 
ing of the agricultural industries of the islands, and would 
undoubtedly in time cause many manufactories to be estab- 
lished here. If this is not done, the advancement of agri- 
cultural and all other interests will be very slow, as the Fili- 
pino is not inclined to work, and will only do enough labor 
to get food and clothing, and it does not require much labor 
to supply his primitive needs. 

At present there are no sugar refineries in the Philip- 
pines. The islands had the privilege of bringing in contract 
labor under the old Spanish regime, and there are many 
Chinese in the country now, who came here before the Amer- 
icans, but their number is getting less every year, by death and 
old age, and no more can come in to take their places. 

BORNEO. 

Borneo is the largest island in the world, about 800 miles 
long and 700 miles wide. On march 25th, we called at Vic- 
toria harbor, Labitan, on Borneo Island. This is a small town 
in that part of the island governed by the British ; population 


7 * 



ZULU PAGODA— IN THE CENTRAL PART OF RANGOON. 


about one thousand, natives and Chinese. The town does not 
amount to much, but there was some festivities going on at 
the time of our visit, and an effort was made to entertain us, 
by having their “Native Head-Hunters” (a Head-Hunter is 
a native who covers himself with glory by getting as many 
heads of the other tribe as may be possible, without losing 
his own), come in and make a display of their ability in shoot- 
ing arrows, but they did not show much skill. In looking for 
something to shoot with my camera I walked around in front 
of their target , and some one yelled for me to get out of that, 
or I might get shot. I got out as requested without delay, 
and then watched their shooting with arrows. I found that 
I had really been in danger, as their arrows fell all around 
where I had been standing, but did not touch the target very 
often ; really it looked like the only safe place in that part of 
the field was the target. 

The Head-Hunters did not have much clothing to speak 
of. Their attire was principally feathers, and a few strings 
tied around their bodies. 

They have a market here, most of the food offered for 
sale is the banana and the cocoanut, both of which grow wild. 

These people are dark brown and quite small. Some of 
the native women and girls were dressed in the brightest col- 
ors, green and yellow silks embroidered. Very few wear 
anything on their feet, but many silver bracelets on their arms 
and ankles. The men usually wear only trousers. We saw 
some Malays here who wore a turban and coat, and no trous- 
ers. 

The East Indian Mohammedan is the policeman who 
guards the people here, as in most of these countries held by 
England, and he is well suited for his work, usually large, at 
least six feet tall, wears a white turban ; his face is black with 
a black beard, and looks like a person well fitted to keep the 


73 


m 4 



STREET SCENE— RANGOON, BURMA 


peace, where it might be necessary to kill a man occasionally. 

The island near Labuan is nearly level, with some low 
lying hills in the distance. Lying near the Equator it has the 
tropical appearance of perpetual Spring; great crops of every- 
thing grown in the tropics could be grown here, as it is the 
most fertile and easily cultivated (having no mountains) of 
any country we have seen in the “Far East.” Today it 
is not excessively hot in Borneo, as the thermometer regis- 
ters only 85 on our steamer at midday. 

Idle principal occupation of the natives is fishing, but 
Labuan is really made by the coal business. There are excel- 
lent coal mines on the island, and a railway has been built 
from the mines to Labuan ; large coal sheds are built here, 
with corrugated iron roofs, a wooden pier extends out into the 
bay about one hundred yards, so that boats of medium draught 
can come alongside the pier, and take on coal. Our steamer 
drawing thirty feet of water was compelled to anchor half 
a mile out. 

Many things are done in the most primitive way in this 
part of the world. The cars unloading into these coal sheds 
are run along side the shed and the coal shoveled into buckets 
and carried into the shed on the backs of the Chinamen. An 
American coal dealer would very soon elevate these tracks 
and run them over the tops of the coal sheds, using dump cars, 
and drop a train load of coal into the shed in fifteen minutes. 
There is a large amount of coal stored here, and it is much 
better quality than that mined in Japan. As this place lies 
mid-way between Hong-Kong and Singapore, and has a fine 
grade of coal, it certainly must in time become one of the 
greatest coaling stations in the ‘‘Far EastT This coal is 
mined with Chinese labor, which is efficient, cheap, and un- 
limited in supply. 

From the map it appears that England only claims a strip 


75 



STREET SCENE— RANGOON, BURMA 


along the northern coast of Borneo, the most of the island is 
still occupied by the “Wild Man of Borneo." It is very sel- 
dom that travelers visit or even call at any place on this island, 
and we were more than pleased to have an opportunity to visit 
this unfrequented place. 

Mail is sent from here every three months, and probably 
then only a small mail. 

There are but fourteen white men in this part of the 
island, and we were not able to see any of them. We in- 
quired all along the street, and the town has not much more 
than one street, but that is a long one, and could not find an 
individual that could speak English, therefore, could get but 
meagre information. 

I predict that some day this beautiful island of Borneo 
will be densely populated, and its fertile lands made to pro- 
duce all kinds of food for the over-populated portions of the 
“Far East/' but before that time, the town of Labuan will be 
a large coaling station, with thousands of population, mostly 
Chinese. It is much better country for agriculture than the 
Philippines. 

We were in java, “the world’s only paradise," for only 
two days, while not long enough to give much information 
about the country, we were busy and will mention a few of 
the things which we saw, such as are not like what we see 
daily in the United States. 

Landing at “Tandjong Priok," we took cars for Batavia , 
about ten miles inland. This city, the capital of the island, 
lies seven degrees south of the Equator; has about 200,000 
population, and growing rapidly. The whole island of Java, 
800 miles long, and average about 200 miles wide, has a popu- 
lation of 30,000,000. It looks as though the figures were 







m 


STREET SCENE— RANCOON, BURMA. 


wrong, but any one who has been here will agree that Japan 
seems sparsely settled beside Java. 

Old Batavia is about 300 years old, and new Batavia, or 
Welte Vreden (the city of pleasure) about 100 years old. 
They are in fact one city, but the styles of architecture, and 
the appearance are distinctly different. Most of the business 
is done at Old Batavia, where the buildings are close together, 
and style of architecture like Holland. Pictures of these 
streets make us think we are looking at a city in Holland, but 
the people do not look at all like the Hollanders. 

The Holland canals are here however, and run every- 
where through the cities and country and are of great benefit 
for irrigation and transportation. 

The city of Welte Vreden, or New Batavia has modern 
architecture, with electric lights, gas, water works and street 
cars. The hotels are excellent and occupy several acres of 
ground. The main hotel buildings are usually two stories 
high, but the rooms are built on what they call a Pavilion , 
really a street inside the hotel grounds, with rows of one story 
cottages on each side. These rooms or cottages are built for 
comfort in tropical weather. They have a large wide window 
in the back, protected by wooden shutters, and a double door 
in front, with outside doors, about half the height of the 
inside doors. Usually the window shutters are wide open, 
and the doors also, but at night the half doors at front are 
closed. In front the roof extends twenty feet from the room. 
Twelve feet of this is a front porch, and eight feet covers the 
sidewalk. On our front porch we found three easy chairs, 
a table, and a tea set, on a small table; in the room one large 
bed, very wide, for two persons, a table, washstand, chairs, 
wardrobe, two small beds for children, in fact everything 
needed for house keeping for a small family. There is no 
glass in the whole city, unless in the front of the hotel, or in 


79 


4ll 



FUNERAL PROCESSION— RANGOON. 


front of some store building*. It is not customary to use glass 
in windows in this country. 

Our hotel room and front porch is elevated about four 
feet above the sidewalk so that we are very private. A Malay 
boy who attends our rooms squats not far away, so that he 
can be called at any moment. 

The grounds cover several acres, and there are a great 
many rooms, such as we occupy. Everything in and about 
the place is remarkably clean and neat. Lizards are very com- 
panionable here, and are to be seen in every room, usually 
several of them in each room. They run over the walls and 
floors as quick as a mouse, but are entirely harmless, and feed 
on the small bugs and insects which they find in the house. 
The natives say don't molest them, they should be there to 
keep the house free from insects. To us, who are not ac- 
customed to such bug killers, they seem repugnant, as they are 
of the reptile species, but we soon became accustomed to see- 
ing them running up the walls or over the floor, or in the 
dining room, and pay no attention to them. 

The Javanese are of Malay origin, and speak the Malay 
language. They make good servants, understanding nothing 
but the Malay language, but are eager to do all they can to 
make their guests comfortable. They are much like children, 
and need some one to direct them, they cannot think of more 
than one thing at a time. For instance, when we wish a glass 
of lemonade, we must first order a bottle of Appollinaris 
water, then a lemon, then a glass, then sugar, and ice; in that 
way get the materials for cool drink. 

Our room cost six guilders a day. A guilder is 40 cents 
in value, making the hotel rates $2.40 per day, including 
meals, which were good. The new hotels are in the New City, 
along the canal, and the street railways run along the canal 
in front of the hotels. All the new part of the city has much 



LUNCH TIME— RANGOON, BURMA 


space given to grass plats, trees, flowers, etc ; the most beau- 
tiful landscape gardening* and dense tropical foliage. The 
grounds are so filled with trees and flowers that one has the 
feeling of passing through a forest instead of a city. On ac- 
count of this style of building the city occupies a very large 
space of ground. 

We took an automobile, as the streets and roads near 
the city are fine and smooth, and drove over much of the place 
in the morning when the sun was not too hot. 

All the city and country for forty miles around is flat 
and level, interspersed with innumerable canals and bridges. 
The canals are full of water craft, loaded with all kinds of 
vegetables and fruits being brought to market, also rafts of 
bamboo poles (which is the most useful timber here), fire- 
wood and lumber. There are great numbers of men working 
on these canal boats and rafts, some are on the tow-path pul- 
ling with ropes, others are on the boats or rafts pushing with 
poles. 

The rice land is covered with water from three to six 
inches deep. Man and animal wade along in the water and 
mud to plow, but it is much better than the Japanese way, 
where they have no animals to use, and have to dig the ground 
over with spades. 

The residences have a charm that is not equaled else- 
where. Standing well back from the street with two rows of 
royal palm trees, from street to house, and many tropical 
trees and plants, a smoothly mown grass lawn, fringed with 
many colored flowers, the air laden with the scent of clove- 
trees, nutmeg, cinnamon, and other spice trees, tropical birds 
of many kinds singing joyful songs, the house itself painted 
white, or pink with green window blinds, and red tile roof, 
with many drives and walks of red gravel, makes a scene not 
to be forgotten. And when one drives through avenues of 


83 



RIVER SCENE— RANGOON, BURMA 




this kind of residences, varied occasionally by a school house, 
built just as artistic as the residences, the streets perfectly 
smooth and watered by a Javanese, with two buckets on a 
pole across his shoulders, so that there is no dust ; a tall row 
of palms or spice trees on each side of the street to protect us 
from the sun’s rays, all vegetation of the greenest possible 
green, growing in a temperature all the year round of 80 de- 
grees, with an abundance of water for irrigation, as well as 
frequent rains — the thought steals through the brain, this is 
Heaven on Earth. We had read before visiting Java that it 
was an earthly paradise ; we have been to Honolulu, which 
we thought as beautiful as anything on earth, but Java is cer- 
tainly more beautiful than any other place, and a continual 
delight to the visitor. 

There is a sense of languor and idleness in the air, which 
makes ones thoughts keep time to the slow motions of the 
Javanese Coolie, who carefully sweeps the street clean with his 
long rattan broom. 

It is peculiar to Java that there are no flies, although 
there are plenty of insects of the crawling kind. While we were 
taking dinner at the hotel we noticed some of the ladies bare- 
footed, except a slight straw sandal. It seems to be the pro- 
per thing here for the highest lady in the land to reject shoes 
and stockings. It is a great help to keep cool. 

This is where the celebrated Java coffee is grown, and 
one would anticipate getting the best coffee in the world, but 
it does not work out that way. When we ask for a cup of 
coffee the waiter brings a coffee cup one-third filled with 
coffee essence, cold, and a cup of hot milk. To make the 
coffee ready to drink we put in as much hot milk as we like. 
This coffee is not as good as we get at our own breakfast 


85 



ELEPHANTS HANDLING HEAVY TIMBER— RANGOON. 



table in America, but it is less trouble for the Javanese to 
serve. 

I called on a photographer to have some kodak films de- 
veloped and while we were talking under a tree at his door a 
large monkey, as large as a medium sized dog, jumped from 
the tree upon my back, the photographer took me by the arm, 
forcibly jerking me away from Mr. Monk, who was chained 
to the tree, saying “he Monk, he bite. I thanked him kindly 
for his assistance, as I would rather have a fight with a dog 
than with a big monkey. 

The principal means of conveyance here is a small two 
wheeled carriage, with a very small pony, a little larger than 
a goat. The rig with a very elaborate harness is called a 
“SadosT With a Javanese driver, one gets around the city 
quite conveniently ; fare, one guilder per hour. 

The street car system is very good. The lines running 
through the central part of the city use power from a high 
pressure steam boiler. The steam is generated in boilers lo- 
cated at the end of the line; each trip the boiler (which pulls 
the small train of cars) is filled with steam from the generat- 
ing boiler to a pressure of 350 pounds which is enough to pull 
the train five miles to the other end of the line where it is re- 
filled. The road is level, and this power works satisfactorily 
here. There is another street railway line, which uses the 
trolley line electric power. The steam railroads are three and 
a half foot gauge, trains are very small, with very small en- 
gines and light passenger and freight cars, all made in En- 
gland. The railroad tracks are built with great care ; trains 
are operated very slowly, from ten to twenty miles per hour; 
employees are all Javanese. There is about 1,000 miles of 
railway trackage on the island. 

The principal food of the Javanese is rice and vegetables. 
They do not eat fish as much as the Chinese or Japanese. 


*7 



THE IRRAWADDY RIVER— RANGOON IN DISTANCE. 



Nearly every kind of vegetables grow luxuriantly here. The 
country is particularly adapted to growing nutmeg, cinnamon, 
cloves, spices, and a great variety of fruit. Their principal 
exports are cocoa, copra, mace, gutta percha, gum-damar, 
India rubber, hides, indigo, cinnamon, cassia, cotton, quinine, 
strychnine, coffee, pepper, rice, rattans, sugar, tobacco, tapi- 
oca and tea. 

Sugar is their largest export, and the quality is good. 
The flavor is better than the usual cane sugar flavor. 

The island has been a colony of Holland for about three 
hundred years, and the Dutch have introduced their architect- 
ure and economical cleanly habits among the Javanese. While 
not the best workers, still under Dutch direction they have 
accomplished great things. At the present time they are gen- 
erally in a prosperous condition, more so than any nation we 
have visited since leaving our own country. 

We left Java with regret, as we would have been de- 
lighted to spend two months in this beautiful country and hope 
some day to return, when we can stay longer. 

On our way to Singapore we cruised along the eastern 
shores of the island of Sumatra, which also is a colony of Hol- 
land, but not of so great importance as Java. 

Singapore on Mallacca Straits, was founded by an En- 
glishman, Sir Stamford Raffles , in 1819, or ninety-one years 
ago. 

The traveler sees a fine city on arrival at Johnstons Pier, 
equal in appearance to the best European or American cities ; 
wide streets well paved, buildings three or four stories high, 
supplied with gas, electric lights, good water, good electric 
street car lines, in fact, ahead of many cities in Europe of 
greater size and age. 

The population is over 200,000, chiefly Chinese, but there 
are people from every quarter of the globe in Singapore. The 


89 



JAIN TEMPLE— CALCUTTA. 


Malays are next to the Chinese in numbers, and their color 
ranges from coal black to a chocolate brown. Then comes the 
Arabs, Persians, Cingalese, Siamese, Japanese, Jews, Negroes, 
Europeans, and very few Americans. 

Sir Raffles, the founder of this citv, has left his name 
as a legacy to the city in many of its Public Institutions, such 
as Raffles Hotel, Raffles Quay, Raffles Educational Institu- 
tion, Raffles Library and Museum. 

Probably no traveler ever visits this city without going 
to the Raffles Hotel for a meal. It is very large, built of 
stone, with inside marble finish ; a dining room which seats 
three hundred guests, and it was filled the day we were there. 
It is kept in first-class European style — the best hotel in this 
part of the world. 

The laws prohibit taking photographs in Singapore on 
account of the location here, of many British fortifications. 

The streets of the city present an interesting view to the 
traveler every moment ; first an ox-cart drawn by two white 
(sacred) oxen with their horns turned back and humps on 
their shoulders, a black Malay driver with almost no clothing 
on his shining body. Next a jinricksha drawn by a lusty 
yellow Chinaman, with no clothing, except a breech cloth, 
made of blue denim ; seated in the rickshaw will likelv be a 

j 

fat Chinese merchant, dressed in the latest eastern style. 
Then an automobile driven by an English or a German chaf- 
feur, having for its passengers the family of a wealthy Chin- 
ese merchant. Next a Singapore four-wheeled carriage, with 
gaudy colors, a double roof with air space between, having a 
Malay driver with clothing so ragged that his body is scarcely 
covered. Next an electric street car filled with all classes of 
this varied population, while passing between and beside these 
various vehicles is a stream of pedestrians, mostly Chinese 
men who have no clothing except a pair of trousers, many of 



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CALCUTTA. — Covers one aere 


them carrying buckets tied to a pole about six feet long, which 
is carried across his shoulders. These buckets contain every 
kind of merchandise from fresh fish to the finest silk. Such 
a continual change of scene that we feel as though we are 
looking at a moving picture show. 

Some of our discriminating and critical young ladies 
went into ecstacies over the color combination of the Malay 
Coolies working on the street with a “Sarong" for a skirt, 
painted red, blue, green and yellow, his body above the waist 
line a shining black, with a flaming red turban around his 
head. 

We landed at Singapore March 31, 1910, and had been 
led to believe that we would be almost suffocated with the 
heat, as the location is only one degree north of the Equator, 
where the nights are as hot as the days, and the days are as 

hot as any place one might think of. We were lucky, 

as usual, however, as the weather was not as hot as many 
places we had before visited. The lowest temperature indi- 
cated by the thermometer for the last ten years here is 79 
50-100 degrees, and the highest 82 31-100 degrees, or less 
than three degrees variation in the temperature either day or 
night. It seems almost incredible. The sun is alwavs nearlv 
directly over our heads at noon; it rises at six and sets at six 
every day. There were 180 rainy days last year, and there is 
much humidity, yet a little breeze usually makes the weather 
endurable. 

It is the “cross roads" for all ships between the Eastern 
and Western Hemisphere, on the great ocean way around 
the globe. The harbor is one of the most picturesque in the 
world, filled with thousands of shipping craft from every 
quarter. There is scarcely a time when the flag of every na- 
tion is not flying in this harbor. 

Singapore is situated on the island of Singapore, which 


93 


■pp 



STEPS TO BATHING GHAT. ON THE GANGES RIVER — CALCUTTA. 


is fourteen miles long and seven miles wide, separated from 
the main land by a narrow channel of three quarters of a mile. 
Like most of the country in this part of the world which is 
worth having', it belongs to England. 

We took a carriage drive from Johnston's Pier out some 
miles to the Botanical Garden. The roadway is wide, paved 
with red gravel ; and swept daily so that it is as clean and 
smooth as could be made. The grass is kept closely cut ; the 
trees which are of every known variety in the world, have 
tropical luxuriant growth. 

The garden is about two miles long, situated on un- 
dulating hills, and is one of the most pleasant drives we have 
taken. 

The Governor's home is adjacent to this garden, also the 
waterworks reservoirs, situated on an elevation of five hun- 
dred feet. We had a grand view from this point, over this 
city, harbor and adjacent territory. 

We returned to the city through a beautiful residence 
district, past Missionary schools and publishing houses, which 
are housed in good five story buildings. Then down to the 
business part of the city, where we visited many shops kept by 
Chinese. 

The Chinaman here has learned much by foreign touch, 
and is far keener than his brother at home in China. Their 
shops are large, many of them carry every kind of merchan- 
dise which is salable in this city, but of a poor cheap quality. 
They are very alert for profits and speak English enough to 
transact business. 

Mr. Robinson, an Englishman, and the largest merchant 
in Singapore, told me that it was a fine healthy climate, and 
he has been living here twenty-four years. 

They carry stocks running into the hundreds of thou- 
sands of dollars. They have about eighty feet front, four 


95 



WASHERMAN— CALCUTTA 


stories high, and run back three or four hundred feet. Their 
stocks consist of groceries, hardware, drugs, dry goods, cloth- 
ing, hats and caps, musical instruments, trunks, gloves, men s 
furnishing goods, millinery, crockery, shoes, in fact everything 
that can be sold in this market. The prices on these articles 
which I am familiar with, are about the same as in the United 
' ^ e no duties to pay and buy most of their 

goods in Europe, and should make good profit, as they have 
a good volume of trade all the year. They do not need to 
carry any winter goods in Singapore. It is always “The Good 
Old Summer T ime ’ here. Mr. Robinson told me he paid his 
English speaking clerks 300 pounds a year, and his rent is 
$9,000 per year. The latter item looks cheap to me, most of 
his clerks are Chinese, and to these he pays very small salaries. 

The climate is hard on many classes of goods. It is so 
hot and humid that many goods will mould if kept in pack- 
ages in warehouses. It takes one month to get goods from 
Europe, but with all these drawbacks, it still looks like a good 
place to make profit in selling merchandise. 

Burma — “The land of Pagodas and Yellow Robed 
Priests." After sailing through the Bay of Bengal for a 
thousand miles we enter the Irawaddy river, and long before 
we reach the river the sea is discolored by the mud and silt 
that flows down this great stream. At its mouth it is so wide 
that we still appear to be in the ocean, while both its banks 
are covered with rice fields as far as the eye can reach. The 
stacks of rice straw are as large as many of the wheat stacks 
on the most productive of our western prairies. 

The many cottages and villages dotted over the level 
plain, as level as the river itself, and only a few feet above 
the water, the many little green groves of tropical fruit trees, 


97 



BULLOCK CART— CALCUTTA. 



and the general air of prosperity in this fertile rice producing 
country, make a view most pleasant to look upon. 

This might be called the “delta” of the Irawaddy (by 
some called the Rangoon river), as it has every appearance of 
having grown out of the mud and silt which in ages has been 
deposited by this great stream, as it enters the sea. Rice is 
the chief product grown here. The Burmese use the Water- 
Buffalo to plow, and the soil is so productive that large crops 
of the best quality of Rangoon rice are grown very cheaply. 
After the rice is sacked, the boats load at the field, so that 
there is no expense in hauling to market. Rangoon is the 
largest rice exporter in the world, and is known in every 
market. 

This great rice growing district on the lower Irrawaddy 
or Rangoon, is by far the best agricultural region we have 
seen since leaving our own country, and the farmers have a 
well fed, prosperous appearance. 

The next export of Burma in importance is teak-wood. 
This valuable timber is grown in unlimited quantities in the 
upper or mountainous districts, and is shipped to all parts of 
the world. 

After steaming up the river for twenty-five miles we 
reach Rangoon, the capital of Burma, a city of 300,000 popu- 
lation. The river here is two or three miles wide, and deep, 
so that our large steamer sailed up and anchored near shore. 
Rangoon has excellent shipping and railroad facilities, and is 
the third largest commercial city in India (as Burma is now 
called part of India). The streets are wide and regularly 
laid out, and the buildings, two or three stories, built of stone 
or brick, give the city a first-class appearance in the business 
district. 

The river bank is covered with wharves or jetties for 
two miles. There is considerable boat building done here, and 


99 




> ) 
> > > 



DARJEELING, SHOWING SNOW-CAPPED HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS. 



some lumber and rice mills, also railroad shops, but manufac- 
turing is small, and in its infancy in Burma. 

This is the only country that I know of where the Stand- 
ard Oil Company are shut out. The Burma Oil Company so 
far have no competition here. They have been able to prevent 
the Standard from getting permission to build tanks here, and 
the only way they can handle oil is to ship it in tank cars, and 
deliver directly from the car. This virtually shuts the Stand- 
ard Oil Company out, as the Burma Oil Company has large 
tanks, about twenty on each side of the river, so that they can 
readily supply the local demand, and also can load vessels 
quickly and cheaply. They own a large fleet of oil vessels 
and deliver oil at all important points in India. They export 
now over ten million dollars worth of oil per annum. 

Rangoon is situated latitude 17 degrees north; a very hot 
climate, and humid. The natives trot around all day in the 
sun, but the traveler will be wise if he stays in doors from 
twelve to four o’clock. The Coolies who form the great 
mass of the population, wear the least possible clothing, and 
do not think of the heat, which is great. 

This city is improving, and in fact all Burma is rapidly 
becoming a field of operation for the English and Scotch. 
Many are here now developing the industries of the country, 
which they find profitable. While much of the merchandising 
of Rangoon is done by the natives in small shops, there are 
two large English stores here, which have a large and increas- 
ing business. Rowe & Company told me they had been here 
sixteen years, and grown from a small room to their present 
large business, over a hundred foot frontage, being now much 
crowded they need more space, and are at present erecting a 
new store building, which they will soon occupy; they claim 
it will be the largest and best store building in Burma. They 
sell at retail and wholesale everything from automobiles to 


101 



TIBETIAN WOMEN ON STREET— DARJEELING. 


musical instruments. Their clerks are both English and na- 
tives. Mr. Rowe says the native Burmese make their money 
easy, as rice growing only requires labor part of the year and 
they spend their money freely. They are also learning to 
wear more clothing than formerly, but very few shoes are 
worn ; almost everybody goes barefoot. 

The hotels of Rangoon are not good. We took lunch at 
the Minto Mansion, which is reported to be the best here. 
When the fruit course was served the waiter brought a bunch 
of small bananas ; the ants were much in evidence ; I rapped on 
the stem, and a whole swarm of ants ran out ; I motioned for 
the waiter to take it away, which he did, brushed off the ants 
and brought it back again. Now, in one sense, I am a Bud- 
dist, that is, I will not take the life of an ant by eating him. 
However, one must not be too particular in this country about 
such small things as ants and lizards. 

One of our party was entertained last night at the Bun- 
galow of a private family in Rangoon, and the table legs were 
all standing in pans of water ; in that way they manage to 
keep the ants off the table. Those who have been here for 
years get accustomed to this form of tropical life. 

The greatest attraction for the traveler to the city of 
Rangoon is the Skive Dagon Pagoda founded 588 B. C. It 
is the greatest Pagoda in the world, built of stone, and as a 
curiosity it ranks with the wonders of the earth ; situated on 
a hill about 170 feet high, the Pagoda itself is 317 feet high, 
1350 feet in circumference, and covered with gold leaf, from 
base to top, sometimes called the “Golden Pagoda/'’ 

The terrace or hill on which the Pagoda stands is 900 
feet long by 680 feet wide. On this base, all around the Pa- 
goda are built hundreds of shrines or small Pagodas. We 
never saw such an exhibition of spires and gilding. There are 
so many of these small shrines with idols in them, that one 


103 



TIBETIAN PEDDLER— DARJEELING 


is at first bewildered with the great beauty and glitter of the 
place, and at present there are several new shrines being built. 
One of them has a beautiful marble floor, with marble pillars 
in front; these pillars are covered with colored glass and 
mirrors. At the back on a raised platform, which is covered 
with many colored glass are three idols, about five times life- 
size. One is made of white marble, and the other two of 
plaster; also there are several smaller idols about life size, 
gilded with gold. The ceiling of the room is a beautiful 
plaster work, laid on so that it appears embossed, and is 
painted or frescoed in keeping with the surroundings. Alto- 
gether it is the most wonderful shrine or worshiping place 
that we have seen. This is only one of the many, but we 
mention this particular shrine and its idols because it is not 
yet completed. Many others are larger and more important. 
At many of these shrines a hundred or more candles are 
burned for an hour every day. This causes much grease to 
accumulate around the candles, and much smoke stains the 
fine marble. 

The Shwe Dagon Pagoda is covered with some kind of 
metal and gilded with gold. As the gold gilding has been 
worn off and renewed so many times, it has been decided to 
have the top thirty feet plated with gold so that it would not 
be necessary to renew the gilding so often, and at present 
a staging of bamboo poles surrounds the top, and the artists 
are now laying on the plating of gold so thick that it will not 
soon have to be renewed. It is a difficult thing to do, as there 
is no way of going up on the inside. When the workmen 
go up to the top, they stay there until the job is completed, 
as there is no way to come down, except on a small car, which 
is hauled up on a rope running over the Pagoda near the top. 


105 



TRANSFERRING OUR L5AGGAGE FROM GANGES RIVER TO TRAIN. 



At present the manager of the gilding work goes up in this 
car every Sunday morning, taking enough gold to keep the 
workmen busy for a week, or until he comes up again. 

This glittering Pagoda can be seen even from the sea on 
a bright day, when it glitters for all who look, and everybody 
looks, as it is the most conspicuous object in Rangoon. 

The great terrace is reached by long and broad flights of 
marble stairs. These steps are covered with a huge roof made 
of teak-wood, and along on each side of these steps are lo- 
cated many Indian peddlers, with all kinds of trash, such as 
gongs, toys, flowers, and every conceivable kind of small 
wares, which they earnestly pursue the traveler to buy. Some 
of these peddlers place their wares in the hands of naked in- 
fants, to run before you and hold up their articles for sale. 

The first thing we saw on our arrival at the top of these 
stairs was a shrine with ioo candles burning before a Buddha 
Idol. This Idol has had many costly jewels bestowed on it, 
presented by the faithful. There are strings of pearls, dia- 
monds, etc., nearly covering it; value estimated at $250,000. 
Also, there are show cases on the terrace in which are large 
gifts, such as an ivory elephant, a silver ship, and valuable 
jewelry, donated by the Buddhist worshippers and a watch- 
man is kept here day and night to protect these gifts. 

This Buddha has a lattice work door before him, but we 
were permitted to look through and see him and his jewels. 
There were half a dozen Indians on their knees in prayer at 
the time we were there. These worshippers must have learned 
prayers of the Mohammedans, who are many in India, as they 
have the same form of praying, in a kneeling posture, and 
frequently beating their heads against the ground. Of course, 
every traveler who comes to Rangoon will visit this famous 


107 



CIRCULAR LOOP ON THE DAR.TEELTNG RAILWAY. 



Pagoda. The Buddhists make pilgrimages to this Pagoda 
from all parts of Burma. 

The Mohammedan makes one pilgrimage to Mecca and 
that is enough to last his lifetime, but the good Buddhist 
continues to make frequent pilgrimages to the Shwe Dagon 
Pagoda. They are coming all the time, both day and night. 
At night the faithful carry torches or lighted candles, and 
present a weird spectacle. There are many Buddhist priests 
in and around this great Pagoda. They are Indians, dressed 
in yellow cotton cloth, draped around their bodies. These 
priests live on the bounty of the people. They do not beg, 
but each has his assistant or apprentice, who goes out at meal 
time with a large brass bowl and a gong, beating on the gong- 
lets the people know that the priest, his master, will accept 
anything that he can eat. 

There is more gilding, plating and bronzing required to 
keep this great Pagoda and the thousands of smaller ones on 
this hill all brightened up, than one would think. A whole 
forest of spires to keep bright. The whole thing is a Tawdry 
Jezvel for Pagan idolatrous worship , and the most dazzling 
thing of its kind in the world. 

There is a Pagoda about ioo feet high at the crossing of 
two prominent business streets in Rangoon, called the Zulu 
Pagoda erected in honor of the great Zulu Prince, whose 
spirit guards the city. 

There are many other smaller Pagodas of the same pat- 
tern as the great Shwe Dagon, erected in many different 
places around Rangoon. 

It is not claimed that the great Shwe Dagon Pagoda was 
built to its present height in 588 B. C. At first it was only 
twenty-seven feet high and has since been built over many 
times until its present great size was attained. 

A lady of our party who was entertained by a resident of 


109 



BATHING GHAT ON THE HOLY GANGES RIVER— BENARES. 



Rangoon said to me “I have not done much for foreign mis- 
sions, and think I shall do nothing for them in future, as I 
am told that these Buddhists really live better lives than the 
Christians, so what is the use of converting them/’ I replied, 
“my dear lady, the Buddhist belief in brief is, that all beings 
that have breath have souls, the animal, the bird, the reptile, 
the insect, etc., and when one dies his soul enters some other 
being which has life, and so continues indefinitely a life of 
misery and distress. If, however, the individual lives a blame- 
less and holy life, and does not take the life of any living 
thing, he may attain such a holy plane that his soul will not 
be reborn; that would mean simply the blotting out of the 
soul from existence, which condition they claim is greatly to 
be desired, to avoid the continual misery and distress that is 
the lot of all living beings, and the true Buddhist therefore 
endeavors to live a blameless life, and will not take the life 
of anything that breathes. It is said that when he sleeps he 
covers his mouth with a thin cloth or veil to keep out insects, 
as the insect might by chance be killed. 

They are idolators and worship idols made of wood and 
stone. We have been commanded by Christ to “go into all 
the world and preach the gospel to every creature” and en- 
deavor to convert them to the Christian faith, therefore, we 
should contribute to foreign missions to the fullest extent of 
our ability. While the vast number of Pagans make the task 
look too great, and the number already converted seems so 
small in comparison, as to discourage the missionaries, still it 
is God’s work, and he will in his own good time make this 
labor effectual in the conversion of these millions. We know 
that some of the work done by missionaries is poor and indif- 
ferent, that is the case in any and all work. We do not have 
the best ability in every man we have in our business, still 
we do not condemn our business efforts for that reason. Then 


hi 



BATHING IN THE GANGES RIVER— BENARES. 


let us encourage the missionary cause by contributions and en- 
couraging words/’ 

A novel sight to the traveler is the elephants at work 
in the timber yards in Rangoon. They work with much intel- 
ligence in piling the heavy timbers. They are much like the 
natives, as they squeal and bellow when a timber is heavier 
than they like to lift, and walk very slowly as their dinner 
hour approaches. 

Many of the Rangoon maidens are called pretty, they 
wear silver bracelets on their ankles and arms, and rings in 
their ears and nose; many of them wear a gold button or 
rosettes on the left side of the nose; also they wear skirts or 
“ Sarongs ” made of a yard and a half of bright red, scarlet, 
or purple silk, and a very short white waist or jacket. The 
women are the actual masters of the family, and do the trad- 
ing and spending of the family funds, as well as keeping the 
native shops, while the men do the heavier work of pulling 
loads on wagons, laying water pipe, making roads, sawing- 
timbers, and all heavy work. 

The East Indian, also the Burmese, are coal black, they 
have straight hair, good features, and a high order of intel- 
ligence. 

There is a steam railway out from Rangoon, a very good 
electric street railway line, electric lights, city waterworks, 
oil works, ship-building works, railway repair works, etc. 
Most of the goods used here are made in Europe. Shipping- 
facilities are good, and the principal business of the city is in 
the shipping line. 

INDIA— CALCUTTA. 

After a short sail down the Irrawaddy and through the 
Bay of Bengal, we come to the great Ganges river, or rather 
one of its mouths, which is called the Hoogli River. This is 
like the Irrawaddy in bringing mud and silt down to the sea, 



HOTEL DE-PARIS— BENARES 


and in the many past centuries has filled in millions of acres 
of rich alluvial soil along its banks. This is very fertile, and 
great crops of rice and wheat are growing here. 

We steamed up the Hoogli sixty miles to Diamond har- 
bor, though why it is called a harbor we could not under- 
stand, as it is simply a station on the river bank, where a 
fort has been built. Here we left our steamer “The Cleve- 
land' ? as the river is too shallow for her to go up to the city. 
We boarded a small steamer for the remainder of the trip 
forty miles up to Calcutta. The tide was running strong 
against us and it took from two o'clock p. m. to nine p. m., 
or seven hours to run this forty miles. The weather was in- 
tensely hot , and when we finally landed we were a weary, 
heated crowd. 

Calcutta in the English section, is a beautiful city, with 
wide streets, fine buildings, many beautiful parks and drives. 

The Grand hotel where we stopped is just opposite a 
beautiful park of several acres extent. So many of these 
parks make this part of the city beautiful, but the native parts 
are mostly built of very poor, cheap houses with narrow 
streets and many bad smells. 

The population of Calcutta proper is over a million, and 
there are several large towns adjoining, which are not in- 
cluded. It is claimed if all these suburbs were added, Cal- 
cutta would have over three and a half million people. There 
are thirty thousand Christians in Calcutta and vicinity. 

The city was founded in 1686. At present it is quite 
prosperous, and several large buildings are being erected. 

We were talking with a resident Englishman who told 
11s that this was the largest city in the world, except London. 
I asked him what was the population, and he replied 14,000,- 
000; 1 could not repress a smile. They have many handsome 
government buildings, as Calcutta is the capital of India, also 

1 1 s 



SNAKE CHARMERS— INDIA 



the State Capital of Bengal, and all their officials reside here. 
Also, Fort Williams is located here on the Hoogli river, the 
largest fort in India, having 619 cannon, 80,000 stand of small 
arms, and a very strong garrison. 

There are a great many factories here, making sugar, 
cotton cloth, silk goods, jute cloth, burlap, etc. This city has 
railroad connection with all parts of the vast territory of 
India, and gathers trade from all directions. At least one- 
third of all the foreign traffic of India passes through Cal- 
cutta, making their exports and imports very large. The prin- 
cipal items sent abroad from this port are rice, cotton, wheat, 
jute, sugar, indigo, coffee and tea. As there is a population 
in India of over 300,000,000 it would seem that their cotton 
and silk mills would have quick demand at home for all their 
products. However, it only takes two yards of cheapest cot- 
ton cloth to make a breech clout for the men, and that is all the 
clothing used by two-thirds of the men. One would think 
that the city residents would be clothed better than above 
indicated, and many of them are, but the ordinary laborers in 
Calcutta wear only the one garment above mentioned. We 
saw hordes of factory hands going from work, who only had 
this one garment, and sometimes we wished we could go with 
the same kind of dress ourselves, as this is a very hot coun- 
try; thermometer was 112 degrees in the shade and 170 de- 
grees in the sun one day when we were in Calcutta, and much 
humidity, as the city is only 100 miles from the sea and has 
a large river where the tides ebb and flow. 

The city has a fine Botanical Garden a short distance 
out. One feature of the garden is a large Banyan tree over 
100 years old, and still spreading. It now covers an acre, and 
is a popular place for those who visit the garden in the hot 
portion of the day, as it offers a grateful cool shade. 

The annual rainfall at Calcutta is 64 inches. However, 


11 7 



TAKING A MORNING RATH— GANGES RIVER, NEAR BENARES. 


it is not well distributed, and during the months of March, 
April and May no rain falls, therefore, irrigation is quite gen- 
erally in use. 

The East Indians when educated make good clerks, and 
from what we saw of them, think they make very shrewd and 
unscrupulous business men. We were doing a little trading 
with one of the Hindus, and found him a very sharp and di- 
plomatic salesman. I told him I would be glad to have him 
for a salesman in the wholesale dry goods business, and he 
replied that he would be glad to come with me for six months. 
Upon reflection, however, I decided not to employ him, as I 
was afraid he would in six months, have most of the capital 
of the business. 

There are many Hindu and Mohammedan Temples here, 
but the most beautiful was built by a sect called Jains. This 
little temple although small is very pretty, and situated in a 
fine garden, which is filled with statuary, plants and a small 
lake. 

One of the places of interest to the visitor is the Cal- 
cutta Black Hole , a dungeon fourteen by sixteen feet, where 
the Newab of Bengal, who captured Calcutta in 1756 threw 
146 men and kept them there until morning, when all were 
dead except twenty-three. The original spot is marked in 
the sidewalk near the postoffice. 

The money of India is the “Rupee,” worth about 32 cents, 
and the “Anna,” worth two cents. 

We left for Darjeeling on March nth by rail. The 
track is five feet six inch gauge, and well ballasted with rock. 
In fact all the railroads of India are well built, better than 
ours on the average. 

Although the weather was hot and dry, we had very lit- 
tle dust. After about three hours we crossed the Ganges 
River by ferry. 100 miles up from Calcutta the river is full 



FAKIR ON BED OE SPIKES— BENARES. 



of sand and silt, and the channel changes frequently, so that 
the ferry which is now about five miles long, is not always 
in the same place, as the shifting sands of the river sometimes 
form sand bars, forcing a change in the ferry. The river at 
this point is about one mile wide. 

Crossing the Ganges, we took sleeping cars, and by morn- 
ing were at the foot of the Himalaya Mountains. After 
breakfast we embarked on a small train, two foot gauge, built 
for climbing the mountains. The cars are built to carry six 
persons each, and hang low, not more than one foot above 
the track. Three seats face forward and three backward. 
The sides and ends of the cars are protected from the sun 
and storm by white duck curtains. As it was fair while we 
were making the trip, we had the curtains drawn back, and 
the rear end curtain rolled up, so that we had quite a comfort- 
able observation car. 

The country on this line is all mountains, except small 
narrow valleys not more than a quarter of a mile wide on the 
average. There is not a bridge or tunnel on the line, which is 
sixty miles long, and in that distance rises 7,200 feet to Dar- 
jeeling, winding always around the edge of the mountains. 

The engine is small and built low on the track like the 
cars. The train runs about ten miles an hour, and in one place 
makes a circle of about 100 feet in diameter, and crosses its 
own track. The tracks in places are built with switch backs, 
and zig-zag up the mountain side. Sometimes we could look 
down a sheer drop of 3,000 feet, and many times we were 
crawling up grades which must have been at least twenty per 
cent. It was certainly a great sight and interesting to all who 
are fond of grand mountain scenery. 

I hese mountains sides are cultivated in all places where 
a man can walk without falling off. A new industry has 
sprung up in the last twenty or thirty years (the railroad was 


121 



MARBLE LECTURE HALL — LUCKNOW. 


built thirty years ago) that is, Tea Growing. We saw more 
Tea Estates, as they are called here, than we have seen else- 
where. 

The rains in season are very heavy on these mountains, 
about twenty feet per year. The tea plants get all the moist- 
ure they need in the wet season, and stand the dry season all 
right without rain. Frequently the valley and both sides up 
to the top of the mountain are covered as thickly as hills of 
corn in a corn field, with tea plants. It is the dry season now 
and the tea plants are in first-class condition, the picking 
about to begin. I think tea growing here will greatly increase, 
until this will be one of the greatest tea raising territories in 
the world. There is plenty of land suitable to this plant, and 
plenty of the cheapest labor, who are greatly in need of work. 
The plants grow strong and make an excellent quality of tea. 

On arrival at Darjeeling we noticed that the people were 
not like the East Indians, which we had seen on the plains. 
They are Tibetians. Tibet is just on the other side of the 
Himalaya mountains, and these people have come over and 
located here. They are larger than the East Indian, and have 
Chinese features. They wear coats, shirts, trousers, shoes and 
caps ; many of them wear felt boots and leather shoes. They 
are better workers than the East Indians, and are very eager 
to work ; they almost fought with each other for the privi- 
lege of carrying our baggage. 

The city of Darjeeling is situated in a section where there 
is no level ground ; everything is on the side hill, yet there 
are many beautiful homes. It is called a summer resort, and 
many of the officials and others come here to spend the hot 
months. 

There is a population of 7,000 and the little city looks 
prosperous. The snow capped tops of the highest mountain 
range in the world, the Himalayas are in plain view from Dar- 


123 



GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS — LUCKNOW. 


jeeling, a grand and beautiful sight. In order to get the best 
possible view of these great mountains we were called at two 
o'clock in the morning to go ten miles to the top of Tiger 
mountain to see the sun rise. We had six stalwart Tibetians 
to each sedan car, and three others running along to change 
off when the carriers got tired, making nine men to each 
chair, the boss coming along behind to see that all did their 
duty. 

j 

Mrs. Wheeler and myself were last to start. Although 
the road is good, it was very dark, and the way lay along the 
precipice in many places so high it would make one's head 
dizzy to look down. While we knew this, we felt that we 
must trust to the carriers if we wished to arrive at the top in 
time, and they certainly did their duty well, for nearly all the 
two hours up trip they jogged along in a dog trot, and made 
the best time we ever experienced in being carried up a moun- 
tain, and they were singing, laughing and talking all the way. 

We arrived at the top about ten minutes before sunrise 
and I should be greatly delighted if I had the ability to prop- 
erly describe one of the greatest sights that are ever viewed 
by man. We were up on the Himalaya mountains, 8600 feet, 
and the distant peaks were 29,000 feet high, truly on the 
“Roof of the World." The sun was already making the east- 
ern sky a brilliant red, and lighting up the universe. We were 
standing on a frame work just a little above the earth, and 
waiting; in just a moment the great red sun peeped above the 
horizon, and in another, was shining ever so brightly over the 
snow capped peaks of the Himalayas, and we were there to 
see ; what a sight. We have often wished for this opportunity, 
and now we are here. 

Across the entire western horizon the range of white 
peaks were in plain view, with the morning sun throwing its 
blazing light on each snow covered cliff, and point, a sight 


I2 5 



NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS— EUCKNOW. 


which makes us feel how small we are, how great is this uni- 
verse, and how much greater the all wise Providence who 
made it. 

The Switzerland mountains are truly beautiful and a de- 
light to the eye, but the Himalayas are not in that class; they 
are so much more grand and inspiring. The morning was 
clear and we had a view which we shall remember with pleas- 
ure all our lives. 

Now we turn our faces back, and after an hour and a 
half rapid trot down the mountain we were ready for break- 
fast. 

Before the English came to India the lions, tigers, and 
all wild animals were very numerous and killed many peo- 
ple. The Hindus (from religious principles) will not kill 
anything that breathes ; if a wild beast should kill one of the 
family, they would simply try to scare him away. It is re- 
ported that a tiger ran into one of the stations on this road 
and grabbed the station master, the telegraph operator, who 
is a Hindu, jumped to his key and wired the superintendent 
at Calcutta as follows “tiger on the platform eating station 
master, zi ire instructions T If the superintendent was a 

Hindu, he would perhaps wire reply “shake a red rag at the 
tiger, or beat a drum in order to scare him away.” 

Benares “The Holy City' 1 was next visited. This is the 
Mecca for all pious Hindus, and a million of them make a 
pilgrimage to Benares every year to worship the Idols in the 
“Golden Temple,” and wash away their sins in the sacred 
Ganges. Since the English occupation, there is no more sac- 
rificing of infants by throwing them alive into the “Sacred 
Ganges" as was the custom, or by offering them as a sacri- 
fice on the altar before the Idol “Kali" to appease her wrath 
and avoid trouble in future. A goat is now sacrificed every 
morning, and its blood sprinkled over the Idol Kali, which is 


127 



RUINS OF THE RESIDENCY— LUCKNOW. 


all the poor idolaters can do. A goat had just been slain and 
the blood sprinkled over the great “Kali'’ as we arrived. 

We left our hotel at five a. m. and drove rapidly to the 
Ganges, took a boat at sunrise, and paddled up and down the 
sacred river in front of the bathing Ghats and the burning 
Ghats, that we might have a good view of what was going on, 
without being molested. To say that we were greatly inter- 
ested would be putting it mildly. The scene was extraordi- 
nary; we shall never see anything like it elsewhere. Even 
before sunrise, thousands of pilgrims, as well as Benaries re- 
ligious devotees, were in the water along the river banks. To 
them the Holy Ganges cures all diseases, and if by chance 
they should only live to get into the stream, it would be a 
privilege to die in the Holy river. It is said that at some 
seasons of the year there are a great many feeble and sick 
who are striving to get to the Holy river, and die by the 
road side, and are left above ground where they die. 

We saw thousands, of all ages and stations in life, bath- 
ing in the river — some with their hands raised before their 
faces in the attitude of prayer, and so remained as long as we 
could see them. One holy man (so called), had one arm ex- 
tended towards heaven, as far as he could raise it, and con- 
tinued in that position as long as we saw him. Our guide 
says he will keep his hand up as long as he lives. Maybe 
that is true, but if he did not take his hand down, and eat 
and sleep at night, I do not think he would point heavenward 
more than a few days. 

We saw two bodies being brought to the burning Ghat. 
One was carried on poles by four men ; in this case the body 
was covered with a cloth. Just a moment later we saw the 
body of a poor person being brought to the Ghat; in this 
case the corpse was stiff, and entirely nude, and was tied 
to a bamboo pole about nine feet long, and carried by two- 


129 



RUINS OF THE RESIDENCY— LUCKNOW 


men, one at each end of the pole. They brought the body 
down to the burning place, and dropped it on the rocks, and 
left it there to be burnt when convenient. 

Also, a father brought the body of his little daughter 
to the burning Ghat. It may be that he was not able to buy 
the wood to burn the body. At any rate, the authorities gave 
him a written permit to throw the body in the Sacred Ganges ; 
accordingly he tied a stone to the little corpse, and dropped ir. 
into the river. 

There is very little current to the river at this point, 
and for that reason the refuse and sewage does not float 
away as quickly as would be desirable. We saw much offal 
floating in the water. One object was a dead dog. There 
are not many sewers in the city, and can not be much sewage, 
but a great amount of foul unpleasant smelling trash is contin- 
ually dumped into the river. All the sick and well bathe in 
the Holy Ganges, if they bathe at all, to get clean both in 
body and soul. All the soiled clothes are washed here, as 
their laundry is brought to the river at the Washing Ghat. 
The washer-man wets the clothes, and then beats or slaps 
them against the rocks until he calls them clean. 

The city has a waterworks system, with pipes laid 
through some of the streets. The water is piped from the 
river; the intake is in the midst of all this pollution. We 
were told that it was filtered before being sent through the 
pipes, but even after filtration it seems that such water would 
give the whole city typhoid fever. We did not drink any of 
the Ganges water . 

On leaving the river to go to the temple, we were sur- 
rounded by beggars, some were “Holy Men” with bodies al- 
most entirely nude, and smeared over with stripes made of 
ashes, and some sticky material so that the ashes would stick 
to their skin; also they have long gray hair, never combed, 



ENTRANCE GATE TO GREAT MOSQUE— LUCKNOW. 



but stuck full of ashes or other offal, the whole person pre- 
senting a revolting appearance. This poor deluded iclolator 
carries a long staff or cane, and a small brass bowl, and 
the people gladly contribute to keep him alive. He held out 
his bowl to us, and did some very loud talking but we did not 
understand his language. We never knew whether he was 
blessing or cursing us, but in my opinion one would be worth 
as much as the other. 

Also, the Indian snake charmer was there, by the side of 
the Holy Man. He had a bright red snake, with red mouth 
and tongue, the tongue was darting out towards us, too close 
to be satisfactory. Also, he had a large flat head snake, which 
would snap at us, and make a blowing or hissing sound, and 
still another larger speciman, coiled around his body and arm, 
all said to be harmless to us, but did not look so. 

The poor man with his nose eaten off with leprosy was 
there, begging with the most pitiful, pathetic voice one ever 
heard, and a horde of others too dreadful to mention. 

Benares is a Mecca for all types of religious monstrosi- 
ties, fakirs, conjurers, medicants, etc., who congregate here 
to beg, steal, and extort money by any means, from the con- 
tinual stream of travelers and religious fanatics who visit the 
city. 

J 

We visited the “Great Golden Temple" where all Hin- 
dus go to worship the idols. The whole place outside and in 
was filthy and foul smelling, in the extreme, a great multi- 
tude of people were passing in and out, through a passage not 
more than eight feet wide. Along one side of the narrow pas- 
sage was a row of women dressed in unbleached cotton cloth, 
sitting against the side of the wall, holding out their hands 
begging. We were told that they were widows ; as the En- 
glish have prohibited them from being burned with their hus- 
bands, as heretofore, they are now compelled to beg or starve. 


133 



THE GREAT MOSQUE— LUCKNOW. 


Inside the temple is a sacred white bull, which is well 
fed and fat, also a sacred well, and a shrine which was crowd- 
ed with Hindus, walking around it, to do penance for sins, 
or to earn favor with their gods. They walk around this 
shrine, some a hundred times, some five hundred times, more 
or less according to their sins, and their strength to walk. 
Perhaps also according to their opportunity, as the place was 
full when we were there, about 9 a. m., and hardly any more 
could walk until some of the walkers dropped out. It was a 
great relief to us to “drop out” where we could get a breath 
of fresh air. 

This “Great Golden Temple" is not large, and not high, 
all the Golden part now to be seen, is the two domes which 
are gilded with gold, and as that has been done some years 
ago, the gilding is now much the worse for wear. 

The Monkey Temple does not smell as bad as some oth- 
ers, as it has plenty of ventilation. The monkeys are big 
fat fellows, many of them old and serious looking. They are 
in all parts of this temple, but in a class by themselves, and 
do not mix with the human monkeys, which throng the place. 
Here water buffalos are sacrificed during times of famine, and 
sometimes babies’ bodies are to be found lying at the foot of 
the Idol Kali. As the English hold this to be a crime, and 
punish the Hindus for such murder, it seldom occurs now. 

The sun is so hot in central India between the hours of 
1 1 a. m. and 5 p. 111. in April that we did not often venture 
out during the hottest hours. While the temperature was 
high, 1 12 in the shade, the air was dry, and we did not suffer 
from the heat when we kept in out of the sun in the hours 
above mentioned. After five we drove out to the ruins of the 
first Buddhist Temple, built 2588 years ago. These ruins 
consist of a solid brick stack, about fifty feet high, also exca- 
vations recently made, show that this temple with its many 


135 



OUTSIDE VIEW, CAWNPORE WELL— OUR PARTY ON STEPS. 



buildings, covered a space about an acre in extent. There was 
a large pool in one part, and some stone columns are found 
in the other parts, but the main part of this structure was built 
of thin kiln burnt brick, which do not stand the wear of time 
like the rock temples of Egypt. 

To show the rise and fall of the Buddhist religion, this 
was the first large Buddhist Temple. Here the faith was es- 
tablished twenty-six centuries ago ; today there is but a small 
number of Buddhists left in India. The stronghold of Buddh- 
ism is now in Japan, and even there the Shinto religion 
seems to be gaining and Buddhism waning. 

There is an old museum here, and many broken relics 
are to be seen. They resemble the relics in the Egyptian tem- 
ples, but are not well preserved. 

Benares is a city of more than 250,000 population, it is 
more than 2500 years old, and has not made much progress 
during all this time. The country around the city is generally 
irrigated. We did not see the crops, as they have all been 
harvested, but the soil does not look fertile. The people 
generally are very poor, most of their houses are mud huts, 
covered with a roof of thatched straw. They have numerous 
herds of cattle and goats, all in very thin flesh, showing that 
they, as well as the human beings, did not get enough to eat. 
There are many monkeys in the fields, as well as in the city. 

The Hotel DeParis was cool and comfortable, and the 
food better than we expected. This hotel is situated in the 
English part of the city, more than a mile from the native sec- 
tion. 

Lucknow is made famous for all time by the great “ Siege 
of Lucknow,” which occurred during the Indian Mutiny, last- 
ing from June 30th to September 25th, 1857. “The Resi- 
dency 1 ’ was occupied by the English garrison, consisting of 
about 1000 soldiers, women and children, commanded by Sir 


137 



CAWNPORE WELL— INSIDE VIEW 


Henry Lawrence, who was killed by a shell July 4th, 1857. 

As our train stopped for a few hours here we took a trip 
through the old ruins, which still show the holes made in the 
brick masonry by the cannon balls. The story of the many 
days of fighting, and waiting for assistance, are familiar to 
most Englishmen, and it shows bravery, pluck and persist- 
ency seldom equaled in the annals of war. Today the ruins 
stand in a beautiful park, shaded by trees, and carpeted by 
grass, as peaceful as if they had never been the scene of carn- 
age, death and destruction. 

Near there are the fine government buildings, now used 
by the Army of Occupation. 

Taking carriages, we drove to the great Mohammedan 
Mosque, and thence through the native part of this growing 
city, which is now fourth in population in India, and a thriv- 
ing place with good agricultural country round about. 

Cawnpore is not of great commercial importance, ex- 
cept as a manufacturing town for harness, and leather work. 
It is however, remembered by all Englishmen for the atro- 
cious deeds of treachery and murder which occurred here dur- 
ing the Indian Mutiny. General Sir Hugh Wheeler, who 
was in command of the garrison of British soldiers at Cawn- 
pore, in the summer of 1857, Earning of the Mutiny of the 
Sepoy soldiers at Meerut and Delhi, at once made haste to 
throw up breastworks, and barricade his small garrison, pre- 
paratory to what was soon to come, the Mutiny of his own 
Sepoys. The Nana Sahib had professed great friendship for 
the English, and General Wheeler placed the treasury of 
Cawnpore under his protection. However, as soon as the 
Sepoys at Cawnpore mutinied, the Nana took the lead as their 
commander, and immediately rifled the treasury, and began a 
siege against the small garrison. From June 4th to 25th, for 
three weeks these brave determined soldiers held at bay an 


139 



TAJ-MAHAL 




army of nearly ten times theirs in number. During that time 
they lost by death and wounded all of their artillery men, hav- 
ing an average of twelve deaths per day, the bodies of which 
they were compelled to drop in a well, just outside their breast- 
works, which they could only reach under cover at night ; 
with food so scanty that each individual could only have a 
handful of flour and a few peas for their daily allowance ; 
the sun blazing down at a temperature of 112 degrees in the 
shade, still they held their weak fortifications, resolved to hold 
on until re-inforcements could reach them, or die fighting. 

The wiley treacherous East Indian Nana-Sahib sent a let- 
ter to the garrison, offering to guarantee protection if they 
would evacuate and go down the Ganges river, on boats furn- 
ished by him to Allahabad. As the garrison was in such a 
distressing condition they accepted this proposition, and 
marched to the boats. Before they were all embarked, the 
East Indians opened fire on them, and killed them all, ex- 
cept 125 women and children, and three soldiers. These three 
managed to reach the opposite side by swimming. The wo- 
men and children were held for a few days, until it was 
learned by Nana-Sahib that an army was coming to relieve 
them. He then sent a detail of his soldiers to shoot them, 
but these blood thirsty Sepoys had not the heart to do the 
cruel work, and fired their shots into the ceiling. Nana then 
sent two Mohammedan butchers, an Afghan, and two Hin- 
dus into the house with swords, and those innocent victims 
were cut to pieces. Next morning their corpses with some 
children which had not died, were thrown, both dead and liv- 
ing into a well near the house of tragedy. 

We arrived at Cawnpore about two o’clock on one of 
the hottest days we ever experienced, and went to the Army 
and Navy Hotel to keep cool until five o’clock. Then as the 
sun was getting low we took carriages and drove to the 



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Memorial Church. Near the church are the graves of many 
of England’s bravest and most heroic soldiers, who perished 
during the siege. The church walls inside are nearly covered 
with memorial tablets for those brave soldier boys who died 
during the siege. 

Then we drove to the Ganges river, where the treacher- 
ous massacre occurred, and next to the Cawnpore well, where 
125 women and children were thrown dead and alive. The 
well has been filled, making it their permanent grave, and 
over it has been built an ornamental marble railing. Inside 
in marble is the statue of an angel with folded wings looking 
downward towards the dead. 

Agra — We arrived here about 5 a. m. and drove at once 
to the Taj Mahal, that we might see it by sunrise. The drive 
was most delightful in the early dawn, when the air was fresh 
and exhilarating. 

The road lay past the big red stone fort, through a large 
park, where the trees were beautiful, the grass green, and the 
hard road bed sprinkled, so that we had no dust; a perfect 
drive on a perfect morning in April. The birds of bright 
plumage were caroling their morning songs; the monkeys 
were playfully running over the house tops, and the native 
servants lazily clipping the grass from the lawn, while others 
were sprinkling the fragrant tropical flowers. 

Our thoughts at such a time should be, and were at peace 
with all men. Our carriage halted before a building with high 
arched doorways, and ornamental roof, the gateway to the 
Taj -Mahal. 

The Taj-Mahal in all its beauty lay before us. We invol- 
untarily pause, take a long breath, look again, then sit on the 
gateway steps, taking into our vision and soul, the inspira- 


T 43 



MOSQUE, IN WEST SIDE OF TAJ-MAHAL. 




tion of the sight, the most beautiful and perfect building in the 
world. 

Graven above the magnificent gateway, is the Arab text 
’‘let no man who is not pure in heart enter the Garden of 
God.” On entering, in the center, is a marvelous garden, 
with an avenue of dark cypress trees, that render whiter the 
far off monument. This perfect structure rises like a vision of 
loveliness. It is a floating dream which seems ready to vanish 
in the light of the dawn. 

“As one approaches, the eye takes delight in the sumptu- 
ous simplicity of the pure surface, with the graceful borders of 
flowers, and Arabesques of delicate colorings, on which the 
light rests with soft, milky lustre, and the slender minarets 
that rise at the four corners of the broad marble terrace are 
like waxen tapers to light this beautiful abode of death. 

Inside, at first, is darkness, with a faint gleam of myste- 
rious lacework of old ivorv around the tomb of lovers. There 

•/ 

they lie in silence, surrounded by the perfect things which 
celebrate their love. 

Suspended above the tomb is a beautiful bronze lamp, 
the gift of Lord Curzon, in memory of his charming wife, 
who was beloved by the people of India. The sweetest echo 
dwells in this jewelled cavern. The dome receives all sounds 
and transforms them into perfect harmony. 

The Taj Mahal is one glorified expression of immortal 
genius, too wonderful to be reality. It is in truth a dream in 
marble, the sweetest of all dreams, a dream of love. It is 
the Lady of the Taj radiant in her youthful beauty, who 
still lingers on the banks of the Jumna at early morn, in the 
glorious midday, and the silver moonlight.” 

Is it worth the trip to come from America to see? Yes, 
without a moment’s hesitation, yes. 

This is the tomb of Arjumand, built three hundred years 


145 



TOMB OP TTMAD-UD-DATTLAH, GRANDFATHER OP THE LADY OP THE TAJ. 



ago by her husband, Shah Jahan, so new and clean, it looks 
like it might have been built a year ago. In style and archi- 
tecture it is so perfect that one never tires of viewing it. In 
nearly every instance where we have read descriptions before 
visiting noteworthy objects, we have had a feeling after in- 
spection, that the descriptions have been overdrawn — not so 
with the Taj — it looks so much more beautiful and perfect 
than we anticipated, that we feel it has not been properly de- 
scribed. In fact, if there is a traveler who can describe the 
Taj, we would be glad to read his description. It certainly 
is the most magnificent monument ever erected to mark the 
resting place of a human being. There is only one thing to 
say, go and see for yourself, as any satisfactory description 
is impossible. 

The whole structure is built of marble brought from 
Jeypore, 300 miles distant on the backs of elephants, camels 
or bullock carts. Time in completing building, 22 years; cost 
estimated from 20 to 60 million dollars, and labor here costs 
not more than one-fifth what it costs in our country. 

The foundation is a marble terrace seventeen feet above 
the surrounding ground level, and the top-most pinnacle, which 
surmounts the dome is two hundred and twenty feet high. 

The windows are made of white marble, two inches 
thick, and cut through, so that they resemble delicate lace 
work at a short distance. The four towers or Minarets are 
each 133 feet high, and have a winding stairway inside. 
Under the center of the dome lies the remains of Arjumand, 
wife of Shah-Jahan, and by her side lies all that remains of 
the Great Moghul Emperor Shah-Jahan , who sat upon the 
famous Peacock Throne, which cost over $6,000,000 — the 
most kingly of kings, whose court was the most magnificent 
and splendid of all the extravagant Kingdoms of the east. 

One would think that an Emperor who would build such 
a tomb for his wife, would be a man of kind consideration for 


H7 



STREET SCENE— AGRA. 




all, yet he is the man who, on coming to the throne, imme- 
diately proceeded to make his tenure of office secure, by mur- 
dering his brothers, and all near relations, who might think 
they could ever become king. Tradition says that he put 
out the eyes of the architect who built the Taj, that he might 
never build like it for others. 

The greatest and grandest fort in appearance, that we 
have ever seen, is the fort at Agra, built by Akbar, grand- 
father of Shah-Jahan, on a low hill near the river Jumna. The 
walls are of red sandstone about seventy feet high, and en- 
close a space of many acres. There is probably no other fort 
in the world that looks more like a fortress. 

There is a moat about thirty feet wide, and thirty feet 
deep, all around the walls, with heavy draw-bridges and gates. 
Room for a large army inside the fort, and loop-holes for a 
thousand musketeers. Within this fort is built the Pearl 
Mosque, the Jasmine Tower, and two palaces, side by side; 
the red sandstone palace built by Emperor Jahangir and the 
white marble palace built by Shah-Jahan. 

A short distance outside of Agra, and across the river 
Jumna, is the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah, the grandfather of 
Arjumand, the wife of Shah-Jahan. This beautiful tomb was 
built by Jahangir. It is much the same style in many respects 
as the Taj, that is, the material used is white marble, from the 
Jaypore Quarries. The windows and sides are made of mar- 
ble carved through, so that it appears like lace work at a short 
distance, and some of this carving is even more delicate and 
lace-like than the work on the Taj -Mahal. 

We took an automobile drive twenty-two miles out to 
Fatehpur-Sikri, called the “Wonderful City of untrodden 
Streets," or the “Deserted City.” This city is built on a hill 
too feet above the surrounding plains, and has a fine view, 
built by Akbar the Great in 1570, of red sandstone from 
quarries nearby. It is today almost in perfect condition, so 


H9 



STREET SCENE— AGRA. 



far as the walls, roof and floors are concerned, and it would 
require but little work to make these vast old palaces ready 
for use of a king and his court. 

The guide who took us through is a grandson of one of 
the old officers, an East Indian, well educated, and a flow- 
ery, fluent talker. 

We spent an hour and a half going through these de- 
serted old palaces, courts and residences, where 340 years ago 
was the rush and bustle of the Emperor of India, with his 
thousands of courtiers, soldiers and followers. Now jackals 
and hyenas prowl here at night, and surely they may do so if 
they wish, as there is no one to hinder their coming and going 
under the cover of night, and tigers are sometimes seen here 
in the daylight. 

The most beautiful tomb in all this land of beautiful 
tombs is here, built for a favorite priest, Sullim Christi, who 
had prophesied that the king would have three sons. When 
this came to pass, Akbar decided to build this beautiful tomb 
for his friend at his death. It is the only white marble struct- 
ure in this city, about sixty feet square ; built on a terrace 
about five feet high; one story, with roof projecting about four 
feet and held up by flying buttresses each carved in different 
design. The sides are of white marble, carved through like 
the Taj, giving the most beautiful lacework effect, and each 
panel different. 

The tomb itself occupies the center of the building, and 
is entirely inlaid with mother of pearl. There is a canopy ten 
feet high over this tomb, and that also is inlaid entirely with 
mother of pearl. Compared with others in this country, this 
tomb is quite small, but it is the most beautiful of them all. 

The Gate of Victory is on the east side of the palace, 



CORNER OF AUDIENCE HALL— AGRA 


and the arch over it is 135 feet high, the highest arch in 
India, and higher than Napoleon’s '‘Arc de Triumphe” in 
Paris. 

There is a large Mosque here, a market place, barracks 
for soldiers, quarters for servants, stables for an army of 
horses and elephants, also the King’s audience hall and 
Queen’s palace. It is said that Akbar had two favorite wives, 
one a Hindu, and one a Christian called Miriam, and here 
is shown their separate houses, with all the apartments to 
make a queen happy. One part of Miriam’s house is a bath 
room where the tank is about twenty feet square, and a place 
for water to flow around it in a narrow channel about a foot 
wide and a foot deep. 

Another house was built for a favorite general called 
Birbal. This house is so much like one of our modern high- 
class residences, that if it were set down on a first-class street 
in one of our modern cities, it would be just in style; two 
stories high, with every convenience upstairs and down. A 
wide roof projects about four feet ; its walls and doorways 
are handsomely carved; taking this whole edifice it is sur- 
prisingly like homes of today in our own land. 

There is a wall about seven miles long and thirty feet 
high around this city. There are gateways, but no gates to 
close, and the place is open for any and all. 

In the Mosque a large bronze lamp is now being hung 
by chains from the ceiling, which is sixty or seventy feet high. 
The guide told us that this lamp was paid for from a trust 
fund in the Mohammedan treasury, which fund has been held 
in the treasury for something more than a thousand years. 

We took a carriage drive through the native part of 
Agra, and were surprised at the great numbers of people in 
the very narrow streets and native shops; the place smells 
about as bad as the worst that we have smelled, and the people 
look half starved, beggars of high and low degree, women. 


T 53 



PEARL MOSQUE— AGRA. 


children, old and young*. It is distressing* to see such want 
and hunger in human beings. 

Passing* through this quarter again about ten p. m. many 
of these people were lying* in the street asleep, this being a 
better bed than they have in their houses. Many who are 
sick, have a cot in the street during the day as well as night. 

“The Holy Man/' who is the worst looking speciman of 
humanity that this country produces, the fakir with his tricks, 
and the snake charmer, are always present where there is a 
crowd, and when they see an American they spot him at once 
as an “easy mark” and try their best for a contribution. The 
snake charmer is ready to get up a fight between his best flat 
head snake and his Mongoose, and the fight is quite exciting*. 
The fakir will make a mangrove tree grow a foot high, from 
a seed in half an hour; “The Holy Man” has such a distress- 
ing appearance that one is glad to make a contribution to keep 
him moving. This rabble is almost naked and look as though 
they had slept in the dust of the street for a month, without 
having the benefit of a bath. The farmers in the country be- 
tween Agra and Fatehpur-Sikri look the same way; their 
faces and bodies have a dusty, dirty look as though they had 
never washed. Their houses in the country are simply mud 
huts, with thatched straw roof, one door, no windows; the 
floor is the hard trodden earth. The farmers near Agra have 
plenty to eat at present, as they are now threshing a good 
crop of wheat. The threshing is done by laying the wheat 
sheaves in a circle on the ground, and driving the oxen around 
the circle until they tread the wheat out; then the straw is 
carefully bound in bundles for fuel to cook with, or for ferti- 
lizer to be used on their fields. 

The wheat is scraped up and cleaned from the chaff by 
pouring it slowly from a basket, so that the wind blows the 
chaff away and leaves the wheat clean. 

There are a great number of small shops in Agra, selling 


T 55 



PEARL MOSQUE— AGRA— fNSIPE VIEW. 



embroidered goods, which are very fine work, and jewelry 
which is generally unreliable. These items are offered for 
sale to the traveler at four times their selling price. If one 
offers half what they ask, he is sure to get the goods. 

Delhi is one of the large cities of central India, with a 
population of over 200,000.. An important railway center, and 
a new railway station. The city is supplied with electric lights, 
a good water and sewerage system. It is ahead of most cities 
in India in modern improvements. Located centrally it does 
a great grain trade, and has many native shops or bazaars 
where the wiley East Indian merchant handles embroidered 
dress patterns, Delhi shawls, and a large line of Indian jewelry. 

The city has the reputation of being the best market in 
India for the sale of such merchandise, as is usually pur- 
chased by tourists. It is the capitol of the District of Delhi in 
the Punjab, and has been for centuries the capitol of this Dis- 
trict under various dynasties, and the scene of many battles. 

The Mohammedans ruled here from 1193 to 1393, when 
the city was taken by Timur, but was again taken by the Mo- 
hammedan Baber in 1526. Shah-Jahan built the most import- 
ant part of the present city about 1638. 

It has a great city wall with several gates, but since the 
English took the city the gates have been cast aside. One 
large breach through the wall near the Kashmir Gate was 
made by the British when they stormed the city during the 
Sepoy Mutiny in 1857; since the present day artillery has come 
into use, city walls are not much protection and these are not 
kept in repair. 

We visited Delhi April 20, 1910, and found much to 
interest the traveler. The Moghuls Palace , which was built 
by Shah Jahan is one of the places always visited by the 
stranger. It is still in good condition, at least, the walls, roof 
and floors, being built of white marble, much of its ancient 


157 



PH TO GREAT FORT— AGRA. RET) SANDSTONE WALLS, 70 FEET HIGH. 



beauty still remains. The arches in this palace are of special 
beauty. 

The famous Peacock Throne was last located in this 
palace, valued at $6,000,000, made of gold, and the two pea- 
cocks spread tails inlaid with sapphires, rubies, emeralds, 
pearls, and other precious stones, to represent the peacock col- 
ors. This most extravagant piece of king’s furniture was 
captured by Nadir Shah, Persian in 1739, broken up and used 
where it would do most good, that is, in accordance with the 
views of the captor. 

This palace, or court of the Great Moghul Emperor at 
Delhi, was probably the most expensive and extravagant in 
style, cost of building and finishing, of any palace in the 
world, either before or since its time. 

The Hall of Private Audience is built of white marble, 
open on all four sides, and is most beautiful. Beneath the 
floor of this hall flows a stream of water about ten feet wide 
and six inches deep, to cool the place when the Emperor was 
present. This stream of water after passing under the private 
Audience Hall flows through the Ladies’ Apartments, which 
still have the appearance of being exquisitely furnished, with- 
out regard to expense. 

The Royal Baths are close to the Private Audience Hall. 
They are a series of rooms with white marble floors. A 
stream of water runs around the Queen's Bath. On the floor 
of this waterway were ribs of silver and black marble, alter- 
nating to form ripples. The Silver Ribs are not there now. 
Very much more could be said about this beautiful palace, 
but above is enough to give the reader a faint idea of how 
palaces were built in Shah-Jahan’s time. 

The fort at Delhi is built of red sandstone, and the wall 


159 



DESERTED CITY OF FATEHPUR SIKRI— NEAR AGRA. 
Tigers and Hyenas roam here at will. 


finished at the top in the same style as the great fort at Agra, 
and resembles it in style, but it does not make such an im- 
posing appearance as its Agra mate. 

The “Jumna Musjid,” the great Mosque of Delhi, the 
largest in India, is one of the sights of the city. This was 
also built by Shah-Jahan. It stands on a low hill, or a huge 
platform of red sandstone. The court is approached on three 
sides by wide flights of stairs, and at the top of each of these 
stairways, is a large gate or doorway. Inside of the doorway 
is the great open court, which would easily accommodate ten 
thousand people, and from the west side of this court a good 
snap shot photo can be had of the central part of this great 
Mosque, showing the three great domes, which can be seen 
above the city from every direction. 

The great Mosque is built of red sandstone and white 
marble in varying degree, making the wall gradually appear 
lighter as it rises, so that the crowning part of each cupola 
and minaret are pure white, making the structure white on the 
sky line, and red at the base. The three domes are white mar- 
ble striped with lines of black marble, topped with gilt spires. 

There is another noted Mosque in Delhi built in 1386. 
It is the “Kalan Musjid” or black Mosque, located in the 
central part of the city. 

“The Ridge” where the English were barricaded during 
the siege of Delhi is probably the place of greatest interest to 
the traveler and the recount of their long stubborn fight to 
take the walled and well garrisoned city and fort of Delhi, 
which was equipped with 174 cannon, manned with 40,000 
Sepoy troops, which had been trained and drilled by the En- 
glish, and located in the great fort, while the British force 
was at first only 3,000 and never more than 10,000 men, with 
22 pieces of artillery, located outside the city, with no walls 
for protection. Instead of besieging Delhi, they soon found 
that they were themselves besieged, and forced to defend their 



THIS WAS A FAVORITE GENERAL’S RESIDENCE IN FATEH PUR STKRT. 
Now entirely deserted, like the palaces of this deserted city. 



weak position against ten times their number, and nearly ten 
times their strength in artillery. 

The weather was intense, being the hottest part of the 
summer in India. There were no friendly walls to shelter 
them from the burning sun’s rays and cannon balls. Their 
food supply, which was poor in quality, was very limited. By 
the middle of July two generals in command, had one after the 
other died of cholera, and the third was incapacitated by sick- 
ness. At the same time the adjutant general and quarter 
master general were both laid up with wounds. The condi- 
tion was extraordinarily discouraging. There were 104 days 
of watching and fighting under these unfavorable conditions, 
during which time, out of their small number 3,854 men were 
killed and wounded, of which were 46 officers killed and 140 
wounded. At last the end came, when with their small num- 
bers they stormed the city, going in through a breach they 
had made with their cannon balls in the wall near the Kash- 
mir Gate. At this time with recruits there was a force of 
4,500 British soldiers, led by the gallant general John Nichol- 
son, who was the first one to slide down the moat and scram- 
ble up the other side, the soldiers following. Although a 
greater force was attempting to hold the breach, they were 
forced to retreat, and the victorious column, weather worn 
and battle scarred, entered the city and took position near the 
inside of Kashmir Gate. 

The fighting inside the walls was much of it hand to 
hand battle. The soldiers followed Nicholson along the nar- 
row streets, that rattled with musket balls, until they had 
cleared the Mori and the Kabul Gates, and here there was 
fighting that few could face, but Nicholson could face it, and 
he did ; with sword raised over his head, and his intrepid fol- 

163 



S'* jfe * 




ARCH OF VICTORY 

135 FEET HIGH. IN THE DESERTED CITY OF FATE H PUR SIKRI 



lowers close behind, he fell with a shot through the body. 
Delhi was taken, and today near the spot where he fell stands 
a soldier’s statue on a high pedestal, inscribed on the base are 
these words only “John Nicholson.” 

The Cantonment at Delhi (that is the English Residence 
section), is situated outside the gates; has wide streets, beau- 
tiful parks, and is a pleasant place to reside. 

The city within the walls is too closely packed to be a 
pleasant or healthy city, and yet it is more cleanly than any 
other large city we saw in India. The masses, however, are 
much alike in all these various cities, all appear so poverty 
stricken, that they have not enough ambition left to make an 
effort. 

Outside Delhi to the south is a plain where ruined cities 
extend a distance of forty-five miles, covering the whole scene 
like a forest. There have been several Delhi cities here, 
ruined and plundered by wars in the dim distant past, and 
each time a new Delhi has grown up to replace the old. Only 
the ruins of tombs, forts and towers now stand out of this 
vast sea of ruined walls, to test time a few centuries longer. 
There is no authentic history of these old forgotten cities, but 
some tombs are still cared for. 

The Tomb of Nizan-ud-Din, the greatest of the Christo 
Saints, who died more than 250 years ago, is still preserved 
by his descendants, who live among these ruins, near the 
shrine in which is the tomb. 

Eleven miles south of Delhi, in this wilderness of ruins, 
stands the “Tower of Victory,” or Katub Minor, 240 feet 
high. On a clear day it can be seen from Delhi, and has been 
called the Glory of Delhi. It is a monument to Kutab-ud-Din. 
a Turki slave, who rose to be King of India, and died in 1210. 
The tower is built of red sandstone, five stories, each story 
has a balcony. It is wide at the base and tapers to the top, 
is ornamented with much carving and a scroll work carved 



ELEPHANT TOWER— IN DESERTED CITY OF FATEHPUR SIKRI 


with verses from the Koran runs all around it. At the foot 
of this tower is a plain pillar of wrought iron, twenty feet 
high, known simply as the Iron Pillar. The interesting thing 
about this Iron Pillar is that is was placed there before any 
of our nations who boast of their skill in arts and science 
knew how to construct such a pillar. Some of these early 
generations have forgotten the arts which we call modern, 
and think we have invented. 

Bombay with a population of over a million, is one of the 
great cities of the world, and second only to Calcutta, in India. 
After passing through central India this city in the European 
section appeared to us to be much like our American cities in 
style and architecture and fine wide streets. 

For the reason that Bombay has been under the control 
of the English since 1601, the architecture is modern, more 
particularly in that part known as the European quarter. The 
public buildings, hotels, churches, hospitals, store buildings, 
residences and wide clean streets are more European than any 
other city in this part of the world. The population is from 
all parts of the earth. The greater number, of course, are 
Hindus. There are Mohammedans with their white turbans. 
The Pathians from the northern frontier, large in size with 
hook nose; the Ethiopians from Africa ; the half caste Portu- 
guese ; the Chinamen; then the Parsees, nearly white, who are 
the business men of Bombay, with a very few Europeans, 
make up the million people of this great city. 

There is a first-class electric street car system, good 
waterworks, water is piped sixty-five miles ; electric lights, in 
fact all modern city improvements are established here. Streets 
of the European part are swept clean and well sprinkled. Ox 
carts hauling cotton are the most common sights on the streets. 

The weather although warm was so much more comfort- 




WHITE MARBLE TOMB OF A PRIEST, SULLIM CHRIST I — FAT EH PUR SIKRI. 


able than the central part of India, that we were pleased with 
the climate. 

This city is fanned by a good sea breeze, which makes 
the weather more pleasant in the heated term than the in- 
land parts of India. 

We had pleasant rooms at the “Taj -Mahal' 1 Hotel, the 
largest in India, and among the largest in the world. The 
meals and service were good. This wonder of eastern hotels 
is owned by the Parsees of Bombay, built by Mr. Tata. The 
manager and principal assistants are all Parsees, not a Euro- 
pean is employed in the hotel, so far as we could learn. The 
Parsee hotel people speak English fluently, and have a keen 
eye for the profit all the time. The waiters are Portuguese 
negroes, Hindus and Mohammedans. The room boys and 
general house servants are Hindus, and not to be trusted; 
when there, keep your doors locked, and do not put your shoes 
outside to be polished, or you may never see them again. 

We took a taxicab — there are a great many of them here 
for hire at eight Annas per mile to carry two or three people. 
They are French automobiles, and run very smoothly with 
very little noise, for a view of the city. To Malabar Hill 
everybody drives in the cool of the evening about five o’clock. 
This is a delightful drive along the bay near the water for 
two or three miles, then climbs the hill gradually ; when at 
the top we were about 200 feet above the sea, and had an ex- 
cellent view over the whole city and water fronts. 

On this hill are situated many of the fine residences of 
the city; embellished by beautiful gardens, with wide lawns, 
houses so built as to get the cool breeze, and avoid the sun’s 
heat, they look cool and inviting. These handsome homes 
belong mostly to the Parsees, but some are owned by Moham- 
medans and Hindus, and a few by resident Europeans. 

After a long drive along the bay, through this elegant 
residence section, we returned through the Hindu or native 


169 



MAUSOLEUM OF AKBAR THE GREAT— SIKANDRA, NEAR AGRA. 



quarter, coming through this part of the city about half past 
six, we had an opportunity to see these people after work 
hours, and it was a great sight. For miles we worked slowly 
through the crowded streets full of people, and very seldom 
did we see any vehicle, everyone on foot. It is a very poor 
place to drive an automobile, and these natives are not at all 
afraid of being run down, and do not hurry to get out of 
the way. 

Their cooking is done in the street, or so nearly in the 
street that we get all the kitchen odors. The people eat on 
the street or in the little “hole in the wall” houses, and gen- 
erally remain on the street walking or talking. They seem to 
have plenty to eat, as there is opportunity in Bombay for 
them to obtain employment, and their physical appearance is 
much more robust than the natives we have seen in the in- 
terior. 

They are not quarrelsome, and we saw no disputes or 
fighting. Here in Bombay, the laboring class wear but little 
clothing, still they are better clothed than is the case with the 
Hindu in other cities. 

After a long drive through this section, we came back to 
the European quarter and drove out to Lava Point. This is 
a narrow strip of land, really a small peninsula extending for 
a mile or two out into the bay. The first part is occupied 
by handsome residences, with very small front gardens, in 
this respect much like our own city residences, but the houses 
are very ornamental in style, plastered on the outside, painted 
yellow, and occasionally blue, very pretty. 

A fort and army barracks occupy most of the peninsula 
for half a mile or more. These army quarters look comfort- 
able, and the British soldiers make a fine appearance, dressed 
in white duck suits. 

We made a special trip to see the “Towers of Silence,” 
being the place where the Parsee people dispose of their dead 


i/i 



rHRESHING AND CLEANING WHEAT— INDIA. 


on Malabar Hill, in the finest residential part of the city, a 
rocky abrupt part of the hill. We climbed a long line of 
stairs, and at the top came to a flower garden filled with 
tropical ferns, flowers and trees. Here is a rest house, or 
gateway to the tower grounds, and we were shown a plan or 
drawing of the inside of the towers, which has three circles 
or grooves for bodies, the inner or smallest circle is for bodies 
of children ; around this is the second circle, for bodies of wo- 
men, and the outer circle for men. There are grooves in this 
circle, one for each body, and the whole is built on a slant to 
the center, where there is a large cistern or hole connected 
with a sewer to the ocean. We were not permitted to go 
further, but could see the towers, five in number, about a 
hundred yards distant, with the walls covered with large fat 
buzzards or vultures, waiting for the next corpse. There 
were probably 300 of these foul birds waiting here at the time 
we saw the towers. No one is permitted to go inside the tow- 
ers except the bearers of the bodies, and the men who clean 
the inside. 

When a body is placed here, always naked, the vultures 
remain respectfully sitting until the bearers have withdrawn, 
and then in a wild swoop they tear and fight in their eager- 
ness to devour the corpse. In twenty minutes or half an hour 
every shred of flesh will be torn from the bones, and we were 
told that sometimes small fragments of bodies or bones which 
had been dropped by these foul scavengers, might be found 
inside the finest residence grounds nearby. 

o J 

To my mind this is the most revolting way to dispose 
of the human body that could be imagined. The burning Ghat 
being far preferable, yet these people, the Parsees, are the 
brightest and most intelligent, well educated people in India. 
As we left quietly and silently we met two corpses coming up 
to the towers, one a full grown man on a litter covered with 
a white cloth, borne by four men, no attendants; the funeral 



RAISING WATER FROM WELL— INDIA 



ceremonies ended at the home. Also, one infant on a small 
litter covered with a white cloth carried on the shoulder by 
one man, another man walking by his side, no attendants. 

The Parsee of India is a distinct class or sect, being 
Persians. They were exiled from their country centuries ago, 
and drifted to India. They have the strong facial appearance 
of the Jew, are nearly white, much larger and better physique 
than the Hindu, and have the keen trading ability of the Jew. 
There are less than 100,000 of them, and they have prospered 
wonderfully since their coming to this country. In Bombay 
they own much of the best real estate; a large number of the 
banks, and most of the largest mercantile and shipping houses, 
in fact, they are the money kings of Bombay. 

This city is the greatest cotton market in India, more 
cotton is grown in India than any other country outside of 
the United States, and it is mostly marketed at this point. At 
the time we were there as much as ten city blocks were cov- 
ered with cotton bales, piled up like lumber in the open, ten to 
fifteen bales high. The handling, hauling, storing and shipping 
of cotton is one of the most important industries of this great 
city, and some of the streets are nearly always filled with the 
small ox-carts hauling cotton. During our Civil War, when 
no cotton was marketed from the United States, 375 million 
dollars in extraordinary profits above the usual price was 
realized by the cotton growers of India, and the poor peasants 
of this part of India were made so wealthy that they shod 
their oxen with silver, and put silver tires on their cart wheels, 
but when peace was declared in our country, they had the 
greatest financial crash ever known in India. 

There are now in Bombay more than eighty cotton mills, 
containing 23,000 looms and 26,000,000 spindles, and employ- 
ing over 100,000 people. 

Although Bombay is kept remarkably clean for an Indian 
city, it has the reputation of being the home of “The Plague.” 


U5 



THE GREAT FORT — DELHI. RED SANDSTONE WALLS, 70 FEET HIGH. 


While we were there the daily report of deaths published for 
one day was one hundred and eighty-five, out of this number 
forty were classed as deaths from “Bubonic Plague.” This 
was considered by the city authorities to be a very small num- 
ber, and the city was said to be in a healthy condition. It is 
hard to control contagious diseases in Bombay, as the natives 
keep such cases hidden from the health board as much as pos- 
sible. The contagious diseases are mostly confined to the 
Hindu quarter. 

The condition of the East Indian, or Hindu, is a subject 
which has been discussed by many writers of ability, and it 
seems presumptuous for a mere tourist, only seventeen days 
in the country, and all that time on the run, to make any re- 
marks on the subject, yet, when in India this matter is so 
constantly before us that we think it no assumption to speak 
of these people as they appear to us. 

About eighty-five per cent of the population are of the 
laboring class, farmers and coolies. While the Englishman 
in England has no race prejudices and freely mix with all 
colors of humanity, still they draw the color line in India, 
and the Hindu from natural timidity or from force, has been 
taught to stand aside for the white man, and so far as we 
could observe he does so without question. In railroad sta- 
tions, in places where many were congregated, and we had 
frequent occasion to pass through crowded stations, these peo- 
ple made way for us quickly and without a request. Such 
deference is not the rule among crowds of colored people in 
the United States. 

Almost invariably the Hindu is in thin flesh, his ribs 
and leg bones show plainly. I do not think this is at all times 
for want of food, but this condition is so general that we be- 
came accustomed to seeing these bony black people almost 
without clothing. We saw a very few who were half white, 


177 





m**'" 


.TITMNA MUSJID” OR GREAT MOSQUE— DELHI. 


and in good flesh, and the lack of clothing on such seemed 
indecent. 

We learned from one of the leading educators of India 
that they have no free schools, such as ours. There are a few 
high schools that are kept up by philanthropic individuals. 
Also a few that are kept up by taxation. All the primary and 
grammar grades are paid schools. There are but few schools 
of any kind in proportion to the population, and no schools for 
girls . There are forty-three scholarships given annually to 
those who pass the highest examinations in the schools of the 
district of Benares, which has a population of 40,000,000. 
That will give some idea of their limited educational oppor- 
tunities, so that nine-tenths of these people cannot read or 
write. 

They have good ability, and a very few have been highly 
educated in England. Some have gone through Oxford and 
proved themselves excellent scholars. Those who have been 
fortunate enough to obtain a high degree of education are by 
it rendered unfit for the ordinary duties of life, as they then 
consider themselves of the literary class, and will never do 
manual labor. They will work as clerks in stores, or as 
teachers in schools at $8.00 per month, when, with a little 
training they could get $60.00 per month as carpenters, en- 
gineers or craftsmen. There is very little opportunity for the 
educated East Indian to get employment satisfactory to them- 
selves, as all the clerkships in the government service are 
filled with Englishmen. Some of the lower paid offices have 
been given to the natives, but no position that pays a salary of 
$1100.00 per year, or more, is ever filled with a native, so 
that their opportunity to get employment suited to the bet- 
ter educated is almost none. V ery few indeed of the educated 


179 



KASHMIR GATE— DELHI. 


natives get positions paying more than $300.00 per year, 
while the ordinary Englishman gets a place in the government 
employ at salaries from $1100.00 to $4,000 per year. 

As a rule these East Indians are frugal and temperate. 
Their condition is so near starvation that the greatest econ- 
omy is necessary. Their farming operations and all kinds of 
work are carried on without labor-saving tools or utensils. 
They use about the same kind of tools as were used by Father 
Adam. The plowing is done with a crooked stick, having a 
small piece of steel about as large as a man’s hand for a plow 
point. When the wheat is harvested, cut with hand sickles, 
it is laid on the ground and threshed out by oxen treading on 
it. Their houses are simply mud huts, without windows or 
floors, and a very poor excuse for a door. Their ox-carts 
have wheels almost of solid timber, one wheel would weigh 
as much as twenty of ours. 

In gathering up the offal on the streets of Calcutta in- 
stead of using a shovel, they have a small piece of iron about 
eight inches long with which they scrape the refuse into a 
small box and throw it into the scavengers wagon. 

India is not as large as the United States, and their land, 
which has been tilled for thousands of years, requires ferti- 
lizers to raise crops in those portions not irrigated. Still 
they raise fairly good crops where irrigated or fertilized, but 
there are over 300,000,000 East Indians and I really believe 
that not more than half of them ever in their lives had enough 
to cat , and thousands die every year of starvation , yet, some 
parts of India export rice and wheat, while other parts need 
it to prevent starvation, and the people are too poor to buy. 

A member of the English House of Commons has re- 
cently made a trip through this country and written a book, 
showing their condition as he found it. He says the people 
are taxed to the starvation point. In many cases being taxed 
fifty to sixty-five per cent of all the crops they raise. It 


181 



STATUE OF JOHN NICHOLSON— DELHI 


does not seem possible that such could be the case. If it is 
true, then we would say, the people should revolt, and con- 
tinue in revolt, until such taxation was removed. At any rate, 
their condition is deplorable. We never saw such poverty in 
any other part of the world as exists in India. 

India has 67,000,000 Mohammedans and 250,000,000 
Hindus. They are more religously inclined than any other 
people of the Far East, at least, such is the impression given 
to a stranger, as they flock to their temples in great numbers, 
and assume an attitude of prayer before their idols or gods. 
The worship of idols is much more in evidence than in Japan 
or China. 

After leaving Bombay we had five days uneventful sail- 
ing to Aden, a town of 40,000 on the point of Arabia, where 
we enter the Red Sea. This place is of very little import- 
ance, being a British fortress and one of the desert places of 
the earth. Not enough rain falls here to supply the scant 
wants of the inhabitants. Unless a ship needs coal it seldom 
stops at Aden, and we steamed past without a stop and en- 
tered the Red Sea. 

It took us four days more to reach Suez, the northern 
end of the Red Sea. Many tales are told of the intense heat 
in this sea, and we had been often advised that it would be 
“hot enough for us” when we passed through the Red Sea. 
However, we had our usual good luck here, as elsewhere, and 
found the weather fairly comfortable. One day it was a lit- 
tle too cool for us. 

On the morning of the fourth day we landed at Suez, 
the southern end of the Suez Canal. This is an inferior town, 
situated on the desert as well as on the canal. Population 
17,000, mostly Arabs. 

Here we took a train for Cairo, about 120 miles distant. 
The railroad runs alongside the canal about half of the dist- 
ance to Cairo, and this part of the country beside the canal 



POWER OF SILENCE— BOMBAY. WHERE THE PARSEES DEPOSIT THEIR DEAD. 



is a sandy desert, but when we leave the canal and head off 
direct toward Cairo we almost immediately enter the “Fertile 

j 

Delta of the Nile," and such a contrast is not seen elsewhere. 

This “Delta of the Nile" is certainly the richest and most 
fertile land in the world ; the land is undoubtedly all silt, 
washed down the great Nile in the untold past ages; a black 
soil and deep. The Nile has several mouths or outlets, and 
thousands of canals lead the water to every part of this fertile 
Delta. There is not a hill three feet high in all this vast alluv- 
ial plain, unless it be where the earth has been dug out to form 
a canal. Many of these canals are built large enough to 
carry the water to the land, and also to float boats to carry 
their produce to market. 

The whole country is densely populated by Egyptian 
Arabs, water buffalo, camels, and donkeys, and is always 
growing the most luxuriant crops. At present half this coun- 
try is covered with wheat, which is yellow and ready for the 
harvest; the other half has the greenest of green alfalfa and 
other crops. The contrast of yellow and green is beautiful. 
The fields are mostly cut up in small patches, as each farmer 
cultivates only a few acres. The small towns are very close 
together ; the houses are black mud huts, usually one story ; 
the roof is flat covered with cornstalks, simply to keep out the 
sun’s rays. As it rains so seldom here it is hardly necessary 
to build a roof to keep out the rain. 

We arrived at Cairo in time for dinner, and were much 
pleased to get good meals and beds at “Shepherds." We had 
been at Cairo five years ago, and the sights were not new to 
us, still in Egypt the American will see enough things dif- 
ferent from home life to keep him interested all the time. 

The points of interest in Cairo first to be visited are the 
Pyramids and Sphinx, the Citadel, the Obelisk, and the 
bazaars, or native stores. The fakirs or scamps who live at 
the expense of travelers are numerous in Cairo, and they are 


185 



OX-CARTS HAULING COTTON— BOMBAY. 


persistent. One can hardly reach the sidewalk, coming* out of 
the hotel, before he is beset by dishonest vampires, in the shape 
of men, who surround him on every side, “want a guide ?” 
“want an old scareb?” “want a morning paper, price two 
piasters,” “no, I’ll give you one piaster,” “alright, take it"; 
“want your shoes blacked,” and a hundred others, insistent on 
doing something to get a few piasters, and they follow along 
side, or in front, as we walk, and continue their urging for 
blocks, or until we take a carriage, or go into a shop to get 
rid of them. 

At the pyramids we were surrounded by the donkey driv- 
ers and the camel drivers, each yelling “take my donkey, 
only one shilling,” “take my camel, only two shillings,” and 
while the native policemen are there they do not interfere un- 
less we call on them for help, which we did at last, and the 
Arabs were compelled to stand back a little. 

We then made a bargain with the owner of the camels 
that we were to pay two shillings each for two camels, to ride 
to the Sphinx and back, distance about half a mile ; we were 
annoyed almost all the way by people who wanted “to run to 
the top of the pyramid in ten minutes for one shilling,” or 
“want to sell old scarebs for one shilling,” or “want to take 
your photograph at the Sphinx for nine dollars a half dozen,” 
reducing by degrees to four dollars, and wanting to sell us 
government tickets for admission to the Sphinx and Pyramids 
at a shilling a ticket, when no government ticket is required, 
unless we go inside the Pyramids or Sphinx Temple, but these 
rascals insist that a ticket is required and did collect a shilling 
each from some of the visitors. 


After making the trip on the camels, which took but a 
short time, as we did not wish to climb the Pyramids, or to go 
inside, we paid the owner of the camels as agreed, two shil- 
lings each for the ride, and supposed that covered our obli- 
gation ; then the two camel drivers demanded a shilling each 



COTTON BALES PILED ON VACANT LOTS — BOMBAY. 


for leading the camels; this we paid, although unjust; then 
the owner of the camels who had ridden a donkey along with 
us, although not requested to do so, demanded three shillings, 
claiming he had been our guide. Of course, these claims were 
preposterous, but we paid them rather than have any loud 
wordy contention with fifty of these fellows. We simply 
mention this to show the kind of people one will meet at Cairo. 

After a stay of only two days (we felt like staying two 
weeks), we left with regret, took train for Port Said, and em- 
barked. The trip again through the “Delta of the Nile” 
nearly down to the canal was delightful. A short time before 
we reach the canal we run into the sandy desert, which con- 
tinues several miles alongside the canal, to the northern end, 
where Port Said, the “Wickedest City in the World” (so re- 
ported) is situated. 

The canal is 240 feet wide at the top and 120 feet at the 
bottom. Today ships drawing twenty-eight feet of water 
can go through, but steam dredges are kept at work all the 
time to keep that depth. There is a small fresh water canal 
running along side the ship canal, also a railroad and a tele- 
graph line, altogether making a great waterway through this 
desert for one hundred miles. For a short distance in the 
central part the canal runs through Bitter Lake and Lake 
Timsah ; both these lakes are small. There is a great amount of 
shipping going through the canal every year, and it is now 
paying a dividend on the investment, but the expense of this 
canal cannot be compared with our project at Panama. 

The Suez canal runs through a sandy flat country, no cuts 
or fills were required to amount to anything, and no locks. 
It carries nearly all the shipping from Europe to the Far East. 
The majority of the stock is now owned by the English gov- 
ernment. 

Port Said is strictly a canal town, made by the Suez 
Canal. It lies very flat and low, only about five feet above 



NATIVE QUARTER— BOMBAY. 



sea level ; a tidal wave of moderate proportions would over- 
flow the eity. It has the name of being* the wickedest city in 
the world, but that may not be the case. 

Population is 17,000. It is a coaling* station for ships; 
has the offices of the Suez Canal, a boiler factory, large light 
house, and a statue of De Lessups, the engineer and promotor, 
who built the canal. As our ship sailed as soon as we em- 
barked we had no opportunity to visit Port Said. 

On our way to Naples we halted at the ruined earthquake 
cities of Reggio and Messina, these cities being* on the waters 
edge, we had an excellent view of both as we sailed close in 
shore, and quite slow. 

It is sad to view these ruins where 200,000 people so re- 
cently lost their lives. The ruins have in places been built 
up again, but for the most part, they remain as the earth- 
quake left them, and both cities today bear the evidence of 
destruction and desolation. 

As we sailed along* we saw Mount Aetna, which is now 
in eruption, and sending out vast quantities of smoke. We 
were not near enough to see the lava streams. 

Also, late in the afternoon we sailed quite close to the 

old volcano Stromboli, an Island in Sicilian waters. It still 
has a good strong fire going, and sends out a vast amount of 
smoke and fire, and much lava. On one side there is a great 
slide 1,000 feet wide and half a mile long, with a slope very 
steep, where the lava slides into the sea. This volcano has 
been active for a long* time. About fifty years ago in a great 
eruption 80,000 people were killed, or all that were on the 
island, but these Italians cling* to their volcanic homes tena- 
ciously, and today there is a good sized town of 2,000 people 
on one side of Stromboli. 

Next morning* by daylight we were in the beautiful bay 
of Naples, claimed to be one of the most beautiful harbors in 
the world, and here we saw old Vesuvius sending* out a lazy 


191 



TAJ-MAHAL HOTEL— BOMBAY. 





volume of smoke. It looks like the fire was banked, just 
to keep the thing good and hot, ready for business whenever 
needed. 

That makes three smoking volcanos and the ruins of two 
earthquake cities we have seen inside of twenty-four hours. 
It certainly looks like this part of the world may go up in 
smoke almost any time. 

We landed at Naples May 13th for a short run across 
Europe to take steamer again on May 20th at Cherbourg. 

Naples is always beautiful, but our time being short 
we were off the next day by rail going through Rome, only 
stopping there for dinner, and early next morning were at 
Genoa. 

Here we had intended to take an automobile over the 
Italian and French Riviera to Nice, France, a drive of about 
160 miles, which is made in eight hours. These Italians 
thought we were so desirous of making the trip that they asked 
us one hundred dollars for the automobile service for one day. 
Accordingly we decided to go by train, and bought our tick- 
ets, then they offered to take us by auto for sixty dollars; 
as we had bought the tickets we concluded to go by rail to 
Monte Carlo and take an automobile from there to Nice over 
the Upper Corniche Road , which we did, and found it a mag- 
nificent drive. 

This road is cut into the side of the mountain and rises 
to an elevation of one thousand feet or more, and curving 
around the edge of the mountains at so great a height it gave 
us a fine view of the Riviera between Monte Carlo and Nice, 
By this road the distance is twenty-six miles, and we made 
the drive in an hour and twenty minutes. 

We stopped at Nice one day. This city is the most 
famous winter resort of all Europe. It is beautifully situated 
on the Mediterranean ; the winters are so mild that they have 
a great profusion of palm trees, tropical plants and flowers.. 


193 



ON THE NILE— AT CAIRO. 


Here come every winter people in great numbers from Rus- 
sia, England, and all northern Europe to escape the cold win- 
ters at home, and incidentally to try their luck at the gambling 
tables of Monte Carlo. 

The greater part of Nice is occupied by hotels, with the 
most beautiful grounds and elevated prices. 

The whole country along the Mediterranean coast, from 
Nice to Marseilles is perfectly delightful to look upon at this 
season of the year. We bought magazines to while away the 
time reading on the train, but found it so interesting, viewing 
the passing landscape, that we could not spare time to read. 

The city of Cannes and several others are situated along 
this coast, and there are more beautiful homes, with extensive 
and delightful landscape gardens, than we have ever seen 
elsewhere. 

After leaving Marseilles we went straight through to 
Paris on night train. One day while in Paris we took an 
automobile out to the palace of Fontainebleau, forty miles 
over a well graded and paved road. This old palace, built in 
the twelfth century, rebuilt and improved many times since, 
is very interesting and imposing. 

The marks of every dynasty governing France for the 
past 800 years are here, among these a great many Napoleon 
reminders. The cocked hat, which he wore in many battles, 
and which is painted in many Napoleon battle scenes, is here 
under a glass screen. 

The ball-room which has been the scene of so many state 
balls is one of the finest in the world. It is about eighty feet 
wide and twice as long. The ceiling is sixty feet high. The 
colors are white and gold. The room is in excellent repair 
at present, and presents a dazzling appearance. The many 
rooms occupied by Napoleon and his predecessors are all kept 
in order by the French government and exhibited with pride. 
There is a small town with a population of about 3,000 ad- 


195 



NATIONAL MU SEUM — CAIRO. 


jacent to the palace, and surrounding the town is the forest 
of Fontainebleau, which extends for some miles on all sides, 
with fine graded roads running through the forest almost as 
frequent as in a thickly populated city. We drove several 
miles through this forest, and in almost any part the woods 
look inviting enough to use as picnic grounds. 

Much rain has fallen during the last month and all verd- 
ure is emerald green. These forests have been hundreds of 
years coming to their present state of perfection. Nearly all 
country roads in this section are lined on both sides with a 
double row of shade trees, so that they shade the roadway 
completely. Many places these avenues are three or four 
miles long, so straight and level that, looking ahead the end 
of the road appears to narrow down so that both sides the 
trees come together. 

On May 20, 1910, we went by train to Cherbourg to em- 
bark on the Amerika for New York. That part of France 
north of Paris at this season is perfectly beautiful. The over- 
abundance of rain makes the whole country look much more 
green than usual. A good part of this section is irrigated. 
At this time all streams and irrigating canals are bank full. 
Most of the country is given up to grazing and meadow land. 
While we have seen some beautiful plains in Texas, dotted 
with cattle, we never saw finer pastoral scenes than in north- 
ern France. 

There are thousands of acres very nearly level dotted 
with cattle, and grass the greenest of green with here and 
there a shade tree, and irrigating canals everywhere. The 
beauty of this section will remain in our minds for a long time. 

The wagon roads through this part of France are per- 
fect, and the villages and towns, of which there are many, 
are built in the quaint old Normandy style. 

This is the place where the ancient wars between En- 
gland and France took place, being only separated from En- 


197 



DRAW-BRIDGE ON NILE— CAIRO. 


gland by the English Channel. We could not help contrast- 
ing these prosperous French farmers with those poverty 
stricken benighted farmers of India. 

Cherbourg is a seaport city, with good docks and an ex- 
cellent harbor, guarded by a great break-water wall which is 
built out into the channel two or three miles. This harbor has 
been the scene of some very important naval battles. The 
break- water wall is in fact a great fort, with heavy cannon 
all along, also lighthouses and signal stations, ecjuipped with 
search lights, fog-horns and fog-bells. 

We were made acquainted with this part of the harbor 
equipment from the fact that a fog was on at the time we 
were endeavoring to reach our steamer. This part of the 
channel is much subject to fogs, which are a great annoyance 
to shipping. A heavy fog settled over the channel shortly 
after the Amerika left Southampton, which compelled her to 
run slow, making her several hours late in reaching Cher- 
bourg. Supposing she was waiting for us out in mid-channel 
as is customary, we boarded a small steam launch at six thirty 
p. m. and passed out in the fog to find her. We sailed around 
the location where we thought the Amerika should be for two 
hours, blowing our fog-horn and ringing our fog-bells, but 
could get no trace of our ship. The fog was so heavy that 
we could not see a ship’s light if it was many yards ahead. 
Many of our passengers were very anxious for fear we might 
be run down by some big ship before we were seen. At 
last the captain decided that we should return to the dock 
and get our dinner, as we had nothing to eat since midday 
lunch. After getting a dinner, which was greatly relished, 
as we were hungry from our long fast, we heard the fog- 
horn of the Amerika about three miles away calling for us. 
The captain of our small boat was unwilling to go out but 
wanted us to stay until the fog lifted, or until daylight, but 
he was persuaded to make the effort, and we crept along 


199 



m 


PORT SAID— EGYPT 


slowly, guided by the fog-horn and fog-bells of the Amerika, 
until we finally reached her, about one o'clock in the morning. 
All is well that ends well, but hunting for a steamer in a fog 
on the English Channel made some of our passengers nerv- 
ous, and if we could judge, made the captain of our launch 
more nervous than anyone else. 

After reading a large lot of letters which were waiting 
for us in our cabin on the Amerika we tumbled into our beds, 
about two a. m., and did not wake until long after daylight, 
when we found that the unpleasant fog had cleared away 
and we were far out to sea, heading for home land at the rate 
of four hundred miles per day. 

We were greatly pleased with the steamer Amerika; she 
is a floating palace, not fast, but fitted up more elegantly than 
any steamship we have seen. Over 700 feet long, eighty feet 
wide and fifty-five feet deep; gross register over 22,000 tons; 
capable of carrying 16,000 tons of freight, or 1,600 carloads 
and 4,000 passengers when full. We were glad she was not 
full. 

On the top deck is a winter garden eighty feet long, and 
nearly as wide, filled with palms and flowers, fountains and 
singing birds, as fine as one would see in a conservatory. 
They cut these flowers and have them for sale fresh every day. 
Also, there is a restaurant on the upper deck in charge of the 
Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company of London, where meals may be 
had a la Carte as good as at any hotel, and at prices fully as 
high. Many people engage passage on this steamer with- 
out meals, taking all meals at this summer resort restaurant. 

The whole steamer with smoking rooms, ladies’ salons, 
lounge rooms, restaurants, dining-salons, elevators, gymna- 
siums, etc., reminds one much of a large summer hotel. 

Being ecpiipped with wireless telegraph we were contin- 
ually in communication with Europe and America. The 
steamer issues a daily paper called “Das Atlantische Tage- 


201 



DE LESSEES STATUE— AT ENTRANCE OF SUEZ CANAL. 


blatt," giving the most important news from both sides of the 
“Pond" and quotations of the leading stocks and markets. 

I am afraid we shall not hereafter be satisfied with the 
ordinary steamers which are in use in other parts of the world. 

After eight days fair sailing on this palatial steamer we 
came in sight of that grand statue ‘'Liberty Enlightening the 
World," in New York harbor; all the surroundings “look 
good to me." 

Breathes there an American so dead. 

Whose soul within him hath not said, 

United States, so fair and free, 

Is certainly good enough for me. 



203 


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